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Ube  art  of  tbe  Uatfcan 

BY  MARY  KNIGHT  POTTER 

Zbe  an  of  tbe  pttti  palace 

BY  JULIA  DE  W.  ADDISON 

tTbe  art  of  tbe  Xouvre 

BY  MARY  KNIGHT  POTTER 

Zbe  art  of  tbe  Denlce  acaOemg 

BY  MARY  KNIGHT  POTTER 

(Tbe  art  of  tbe  "national  ©allerg 

BY  JULIA  DE  W.  ADDISON 

Zbe  art  of  tbe  Dresden  ©alien? 

BY  JULIA  DE  W.  ADDISON 

Zbe  art  of  tbe  praDo 

BY  CHARLES  S.  RICKETTS 

Zbe    art    of    tbe    "WetberlanD 
©aliened 

BY  DAVID  C.  PREYER 


L.  C.  PAGE  &  COMPANY 
Publishers,  Boston,  Mass. 


REMBRANDT 


PORTRAIT   OF   JAN    SIX 

Plate  I 
(See  page   295) 


Six  Collection 
Amsterdam 


fje  i^rt  of  ^  ^ 
(Galium  ^  ^ 


Being  a  History  of  the  Dutch  School  of 
Painting  Illuminated  and  Demonstrated  by 
Critical  Descriptions  of  the  Great  Paintings 
in  the  Many  Galleries       J^       ^       ^       ^ 


By 

David  C.  Preyer 


I  llu  s  t  r  a  t  e  d 


Boston 

L.    C.    Page    &    Company 

MDCCCCVIII 


Copyright,  igoS 
By  L.  C.  Page  &  Company 

(incorporated) 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 

All  rights  reserved 


I^lrst  Impression,  September,  1908 


Electrotyped  and  Printed  at 
THE  COLONIAL  PRESS; 
C.  H.  Simonda  C&  Co^  Boston,  U.SJC 


preface 

♦ 

The  wonderful  and  unique  art  of  the  Dutch 
school  of  the  17th  century  can  nowhere  be  studied 
so  completely  as  in  the  Netherland  Galleries.  It 
is  true  that  the  universal  recognition  of  this  pecul- 
iarly national  art  has  scattered  many  treasures 
broadcast.  We  find  in  the  345  paintings  of  this 
school  which  the  Louvre  possesses  121  of  the  17th 
century  Dutch  artists  represented.  The  National 
Gallery  in  London  shows  the  work  of  93  of  these 
men,  while  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  New  York 
displays  the  work  of  48  of  these  artists.  But  the 
most  complete  array  of  the  product  of  this  golden 
age  of  art  as  practised  in  the  Low  Lands  is  found 
in  the  Ryks  Museum  of  Amsterdam,  with  its  2,000 
paintings  of  the  17th  century,  by  over  200  artists. 
These  are  supplemented  by  the  paintings  in  the 
Mauritshuis  in  The  Hague,  in  the  Townhall  of 
Haarlem,  in  the  Six  Collection  in  Amsterdam,  in 


▼i  preface 

the  Lakenhal  in  Leyden,  in  the  Steengracht  Collec- 
tion in  The  Hague,  in  the  Boymans  Museum  in 
Rotterdam,  and  in  various  smaller  museums. 

It  is  a  peculiarity,  evidently  indicating  the  satis- 
faction of  Dutch  collectors  with  their  own  national 
art,  that  no  other  school  of  that  period  is  so  com- 
pletely represented.  Only  a  few  foreign  pictures, 
Italian  and  Spanish,  are  found  here  and  there,  and 
of  the  old  Flemish  school  some  forty  men  are 
shown. 

The  later  development  of  Dutch  Art,  dormant  in 
the  1 8th  century,  is  shown  in  the  Academic  re- 
vival of  the  beginning  of  the  19th  century,  and  in 
the  wonderful  fruition  of  power  and  individuality 
as  demonstrated  by  the  men  of  the  last  fifty  years. 
Their  work  must  be  studied  in  the  Municipal  Mu- 
seums of  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague,  in  the  Tey- 
ler  Museum  at  Haarlem,  in  the  Boymans  Museum 
at  Rotterdam,  and  in  the  Museum  Mesdag  at  The 
Hague.  The  latter  contains  also  a  most  important 
collection  of  paintings  by  the  Barbizon  group.  The 
Museum  Fodor  of  Amsterdam  is  also  noted  for  its 
collection  of  19th  century  French  pictures. 

It  is  obvious  that  to  describe  the  Art  of  the  Neth- 


IPretace  vu 

erland  Galleries  we  cannot  follow  the  method  of 
the  other  volumes  of  this  series  on  the  Art  of  the 
European  Galleries,  each  devoted  to  only  one  Gal- 
lery, where  a  critical  view  of  the  artist  may  be 
combined  with  a  description  of  the  paintings  as 
they  are  met  on  the  walls.  To  adopt  this  method 
here  would  entail  needless  biographical  repetition 
and  confusion  of  scattered  details.  For  instance, 
the  finest  works  of  Frans  Hals  are  found  in  three 
different  museums,  works  by  Ferdinand  Bol  are 
found  in  seven  or  eight,  Rembrandt  is  represented 
in  five,  and  so  on.  The  method  which  I  have, 
therefore,  been  compelled  to  adopt  is  to  describe 
the  Art  in  the  Netherlands  along  the  historical  line, 
and  to  speak  separately  of  the  men  who  created  this 
art.  This  will  furnish,  incidentally,  a  complete  his- 
tory of  Dutch  Art,  from  its  earliest  inception  to 
the  youngest  men  of  the  present  day  —  a  history 
which  has  not  before  appeared  in  English,  nor  even, 
as  complete,  in  Dutch.  That  there  might  be  some 
advantage  in  such  a  history  is  palpably  evident 
when  we  consider  that  many  art  lovers,  in  America 
at  least,  are  more  familiar  with  third  and  fourth 
rated  Italian  and  French  painters  than  with  second, 


viii  preface 

or  even  first  rated  Dutch  artists,  both  old  and  mod- 
ern. 

I  have  not  burdened  these  pages  with  the  ro- 
mancing fancies  and  fairy  tales  which  tradition 
has  gathered  around  many  of  the  more  prominent 
men.  Such  gossip  may  delight  the  unthinking  ones, 
but  does  not  serve  any  historical  purpose.  Fables 
are  for  children,  they  do  not  aid  the  clear  concep- 
tion of  character  and  personality. 

The  later  chapters  of  this  book  describe  the  prin- 
cipal works  of  the  artists,  as  these  are  found  in  the 
various  Galleries  in  Holland.  The  limitation  of 
space  has  often  caused  many  paintings  to  be  men- 
tioned only  casually,  that  well  deserve  lengthier 
recognition.  Even  works  of  van  Ostade,  Terborch, 
Steen,  and  others  no  less  noted,  must  often  be 
passed  without  comment,  and  allowed  to  speak  for 
themselves. 

I  would  call  attention  to  the  various  spelling  of 
given  names.  In  this  I  have  followed  the  original 
signatures  of  the  artists  or  the  original  records  — 
also  in  the  surnames.  For  instance,  Nicolas  is  also 
written  Nicolaes,  and  Nicolaas,  often  occurring  in 
the  same  period,  as  Nicolas  Elias,  Nicolaes  Moe- 


pretace  « 


yaert,  and  Nicolaas  Maes,  according  to  the  taste 
of  the  individual.  Further,  Leyden  is  written  in 
Dutch  Leiden;  and  the  preposition  van  is  often 
dropped  when  the  name  is  mentioned. 


Contents 


»ArTBX  PAGB 

I.    The  Art  Galleries  of  Holland    .       .       .  i 

II.    Before  Rembrandt 23 

III.  Rembrandt 50 

IV.  His   Contemporaries  —  The   Portrait  and 

Figure  Painters 73 

^     V.    The  Genre  Painters 88 

VI.    The  Landscape  Painters 120 

VII.    The     Animal,    Still    Life,    and    Marine 

Painters 144 

VIII.    The  XIX  Century  Dutch  Painters  —  The 

Academicians  —  The  Moderns        .       .  157 
IX.    Other  Schools  in  the  Netherland  Gal- 
leries           211 

X.    Walks    Through    the      Galleries — The 

Ryks    Museum 218 

XL    Other  Amsterdam  Galleriei  ....  289 

XII.    The  Hague  Galleries 305 

XIII.  The  Haarlem  Galleries 345 

XIV.  Leyden,  Utrecht  and  Rotterdam         .       .  354 

Bibliography 371 

Index 373 

xi 


list  of  Ullustrations 


I    Rembrandt.  —  Portrait  of  Jan  Six    .        Frontispiece 

Six  Collection,  Amsterdam 

II    LuKAS  VAN  Leiden.  —  The  Last  Judgment  .        .        8 

Lakenhal,  Leyden 

III  Jan  van  Dostsanen.  —  Salome    .        .        .       .      i6 

Mauritshuis,  The  Hague 

IV  Jan  van  Scorel.  —  Magdalena      .        .        .        .24 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

V    Dirk  Barendsz.  —  The  Fish-eaters      ...      32 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

VI    Frans  Hals.  —  The  Painter  and  His  Wife         .      40 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

VII    Frans  Hals.  —  The   Officers   of   the   Corps   of 

Archers  of  St.  Andrew 48 

Museum,  Haarlem 

VIII    Rembrandt.  —  The  Night  Watch  ....      56 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

IX    Rembrandt.  —  The   Syndics 64 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

X    Rembrandt.  —  The  Jewish  Bride  ....      72 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XI    Dirk  Santvoort.  —  Regents  of  the  Spinhuis      .      80 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XII    Nicolaes  Moeyaert.  —  The  Choice  of  a  Lover      88 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XIII  Ferdinand  Bol.  —  Six  Regents  —  Huiszittenhuis      96 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XIV  Govert  Flinck.  —  Isaac  Blessing  Jacob      .        .     104 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 


XIV 


Xtst  ot  irilustrations 


LATB  PAOB 

XV    PiETER  CoDDE.  — The   Ball       .        .        .        .112 

Mauritshtiis,  The  Hague 

XVI    Adriaen  van  Ostade.  —  The  Fiddler    .       .    120 

Mauritshuis,  The  Hague 

XVII    Gekrit  Dou.  —  The  Young  Mother       .        .    128 

Mauritshuis,  The  Hague 

XVIII    Gerard  Terborch.  —  The   Visit       .        .        ,    136 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XIX    Jan  Hackaert.  —  The  Lane  of  Ash-trees    .    144 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XX    Jakob  van  Ruisdael.  —  Wooded   Landscape    152 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXI    Meindert  Hobbema.  —  The  Water-mill         .     160 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXII    NicoLAAs  Maes.  —  The  Endless  Prayer        ,    168 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXIII  PiETER  DE  HooGH.  —  The  Buttery  .        .        .     176 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXIV  Gabriel  Metsu.  —  The  Music  Lovers  .        .     184 

Mauritshuis,  The  Hague 

XXV    Jan    Vermeer    van    Delft.  —  The    Kitchen 

Maid 192 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXVI    Jan  Steen.  —  St.   Nicholas   Celebration        .    200 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXVII    Jan  Steen.  — The  Doctor's  Visit.        .        .    208 
Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 
XXVIII      WiLLEM  VAN  DE  VeLDE,  THE  YoUNGER.  —  The 

Cannon  Shot 216 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXIX    Andreas  Schelfhout.  —  Winter     .        .       .    224 

Museum  Fodor,  Amsterdam 

XXX    D.  J.  Bles. —  " Holland  Wins"     ...    232 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXI    A.  H.  Barker  -  KoRFF. —  "  Vieu  Pontac"     .    240 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXII    W.  Verschuur.  —  The  Horse  Fair        .        .    248 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXIII    C.  Springer.  —  View  in  Enkhuyzen       .        .    256 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXIV    J.  Bosboom.  —  Church    Interior       ...    264 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 


Xist  of  irUustrations 


XV 


rLATB  PACB 

XXXV    Joseph  Israels.  —  Alone  in  the  World       .    272 

Ryks  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXVI    Jacob  Maris.  — The  Two  Mills      ...    280 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXVII    Anton  Mauve.  —  Sheep  in  the  Dunes  .        .    288 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXVIII    W.  RoELOFs.  —  River  View      ....    296 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XXXIX    C.  BisscHOP.  —  Hinlopen  Interior  .        .        .    304 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 
XL     Ph.  Sadee.  —  Return   from  the  Fish-auction    312 
Alunicipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLI    H.  W.  Mesdag.  —  "  Pinks  "  in  Sea         .        .    320 

Municipal  Museuin,  Amsterdatn 

XLII    D.  A.  C.  Artz.  — Baby  Asleep        ...    328 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLIII    Willem  Maris.  —  Summer      ....    336 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLIV    A.  Neuhuys.  —  At  the  Cradle        .        .        .    344 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLV    B.  J.  Blommers.  —  The  Shrimp-fishers  .    352 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLVI    Th.  de  Bock.  —  Pool  in  the  Dunes         .        .    360 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 

XLVII    Therese  Schwartze.  —  Lutheran   Confirma- 
tion Class 368 

Municipal  Museum,  Amsterdam 


Wt^t  ^rt  of  ftc 
i^etjerlanb  (Galleries 


CHAPTER    I 

THE  ART   GALLERIES   OF    HOLLAND 

Not  the  least  interesting  feature  of  the  many 
which  make  Holland  of  paramount  interest  to  the 
traveller  is  its  Art.  Like  all  other  features  it  is 
peculiarly  indigenous,  characteristic  of  the  land  and 
the  people.  Some  of  the  distinctive  traits  which  are 
easily  recognized  at  every  step  are  solidity,  sin- 
cerity, joyful  contentment  with  every-day  life,  and 
a  passionate  love  for  the  home.  These  qualities  of 
the  people  reveal  themselves  also  in  their  Art. 
Thus  we  find  that  the  intent  of  Dutch  Art  is  not 
so  much  for  beauty  of  form  as  for  honesty  of  pur- 
pose; for  a  dramatization  of  the  commonplace, 
with  shades  of  beauty  in  its  simplicity ;  its  aim  not 
so  much  to  please  the  eye  as  to  reach  the  soul. 

The  Dutch  were  made  by  their  history.     They 


2     XTbe  art  of  tbc  *KetberlanD  (Balleries 

fought  the  sea  for  their  soil,  their  oppressors  for 
freedom,  and  their  struggles  enriched  them  with 
sturdiness,  determination,  and  patience.  They  were 
men,  willing  to  stake  all  for  convictions,  for  free- 
dom, and  faith;  of  iron  will,  cold  calculation,  and 
marked  self-consciousness.  When  wars  ceased  and 
the  home  was  secure,  they  bent  their  energies  to 
trade  with  equal  persistence  and  success.  It  is  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  these  successes  should  have 
given  them  self-reliance,  even  self -appreciation. 
And  when  the  material  reaction  came  from  storm 
and  strife  to  peace  and  plenty,  and  the  impetus  was 
given  to  turn  also  to  Art,  we  need  not  wonder  that 
their  own  was  good  enough  for  them.  They  never 
had  to  blush  for  their  national  life,  and  to  them  the 
most  beautiful  thing  on  earth  was  the  honest,  truth- 
ful presentation  of  their  own  land,  of  their  own 
home  —  and  even  of  themselves,  for  nowhere  was 
portraiture  ever  as  popular.  Hence  there  is  little 
of  mythology  or  allegory  in  Dutch  Art,  while  the 
domestic  life  is  set  upon  a  pedestal. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that,  whereas  to  us 
home  life  may  seem  very  matter-of-fact,  because 
we  have  never  been  therein  disturbed,  to  the  Hol- 
landers of  the  17th  century  it  presented  itself  with 
all  the  charm  of  novelty  after  the  perilous  times  of 
warfare  with  Spain,  and  they  entered  keenly  upon 
their  domestic  joys  and  comfort.     Even  the  dreari- 


XTbe  Hrt  Galleries  ot  "fcollan^  3 

ness  of  rain  and  fog,  which  so  frequently  visit  their 
flat,  low-lying  lands,  was  beautiful  to  them,  and 
they  knew  the  hidden  treasures  of  the  deceptive 
monotony  of  their  own  plains.  The  sun,  constantly 
playing  hide-and-seek  with  chasing  clouds,  the 
mists  and  dews  of  eventime  and  early  morning, 
the  woodland  veiled  in  heavy  moisture,  filled  them 
with  enthusiasm  over  light  effects  and  shadow 
masses  —  which  gave  birth  to  their  landscape  art. 
But  always  they  turned  back  to  the  comedy  of  life, 
to  the  simple,  every-day  incidents  in  which  they 
bore  a  part.  A  new  art  of  social  observation  was 
bom. 

This  makes  their  art  supreme  when  awakened 
in  their  golden  age  —  because  it  was  not  an  imita- 
tion of  what  had  gone  before^  not  a  revival  of 
exotic  models,  but  it  was  self-expression,  the  mirror 
of  truth  and  actuality.  They  imparted  to  their 
work  that  indefinable  essence  which  may  be  called 
the  soul  of  a  painting.  They  did  not  only  repre- 
sent their  surroundings,  habits,  mode  of  life,  but 
imbued  these  with  the  heart  of  the  scene,  the  per- 
fume of  its  life,  exhaling  something  we  recognize 
as  vital,  and  appealing  to  us  with  subtle  sympathy, 
in  spite  of  all  differences  of  time,  place,  and  habit. 

The  question  is  often  raised,  as  a  reflection  upon 
their  high  standing,  whether  these  painters  pos- 
sessed moral  dignity,  whether  the  scenes  they  often 


4     XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Retberlant)  Galleries 

portray,  by  their  uncouthness  and  lack  of  what  ive 
call  convention,  strengthen  their  claim  on  our  sym- 
pathy.    The  answer  must  be  sought  again  in  the 
character  of  these  men.     They  were  honest  to  the 
core,  not  thwarted  by  prudery,  and  stating  vera- 
ciously  what   existed   then,   as   it  exists  now,  the 
evidence  of  animal  instinct.    So  they  bear  the  brunt 
of  their  honesty.     That  they  were  clean  is  proved 
by  the  fact  that  such  incidents  to  which  this  veiled 
allusion  is  made  are  never  the  raison  d'etre,  only 
the  accidentals  of  the  scene.     They  often  lavished 
their  genius  on  the  simple  things  of  the  earth,  on 
the  lowness  of  life,  but  only  from  a  genuine  devo- 
h«DO  to  their  art,  from  love  for  the  mastery  of  their 
■atStAii    They  painted  with  conscience,  sincerity,  true 
felittity^aat  the  expense  of  brilliancy  and  cleverness, 
•tffuinbleflin  their  materials,  they  showed  their  in- 
tio^itpJ irf)gfjicturing  the  life  they  lived.     And  they 
bfiHclhJsf  wBth  characteristic,  patient  thoroughness, 
-whpnebjfnevdortltose  who  least  attained  to  eminence 
iit311,^6vJothi)ctiiraii;ffid  hand.     We  may  well  quote 
-wi^fcrirheneDhaaBrilsdid :   "  Schools  of  painting  are, 
3BBnT^oTMiepv/ri5?raTt}ibfac)2  but  that   of  Holland   is  a 
^^dtejfnfejip  feblcfin  tftat/cenontry  each  painter  is  a  mas- 
.tefprii6rmattBrfqn,3wfe&fi(p2Bticular  line  his  specialty 
't«fishowto6'R3T  i5  ?.R  .haalfiT  naJic 
-so^TwiE)!!!!!!!  paariterffitewbrner^er.  been  without  ap- 
^pit^atkte  8bipothsiife  loUlorfpeQiifei^i,  What    seemed 


Zbc  art  Galleries  ot  "fcollanD  5 

beautiful  to  the  artists  was  equally  attractive  to 
the  public  —  nationalism  lying  at  the  root.  What 
the  artists  wrought,  the  people  bought.  There  were 
few  homes  in  Holland  in  the  17th  century  —  even 
as  it  is  to-day  —  where  one  could  not  find  a  few 
pictures,  purchased  from  local  painters,  while  the 
more  affluent  took  pride  in  having  a  number  of  the 
works  of  some  favourite  artist,  not  to  speak  of  the 
ever  present  portraits.  The  Stadhouders,  the 
Princes  of  the  House  of  Orange,  were  also  noble 
patrons  of  the  arts,  and  led  in  this  universal  art- 
appreciation.  This  was  the  foundation  on  which 
so  many  collections  were  formed,  which  in  turn 
enriched  the  public  galleries  that  were  started  in 
the  last  century. 

But  not  only  did  the  artists  receive  private  sup- 
port. The  generally  existing  artistic  sense  of  the 
Hollanders  was  shown  in  the  munificence  of  com- 
munal action.  There  were  few  corporations,  guilds, 
or  municipal  bodies  that  did  not  have  their  por- 
traits painted.  Many  of  these  groups  are  now  in 
the  public  museums,  but  a  large  number  are  still 
hanging  on  the  walls  they  adorned  from  the  first, 
so  that  there  are  few  public  buildings,  even  in  the 
smallest  towns  in  Holland,  or  directors'  rooms  of 
charitable  institutions,  which  have  not  one  or  more 
of  these  corporation  pieces  from  the  brush  of  some 
of  the  most  eminent  Dutch  artists. 


6     XTbe  art  of  tbe  'WetberlanO  Galleries 

Of  the  public  or  semi-public  art  galleries  of 
Holland  the  earliest  is  in  the  Archiepiscopal  Mu- 
seum at  Utrecht,  which  contains  a  most  interest- 
ing collection  of  wood-carving,  metal-work,  and 
paintings  by  the  Dutch  Primitives.  Little  of  the 
early  pictorial  art  of  the  Netherlands  has  survived, 
owing  to  destruction  by  the  "  Image-breaking 
Storm"  at  the  end  of  the  i6th  century,  when  all 
Catholic  churches  were  denuded  of  their  adorn- 
ments by  the  iconoclastic  fury  of  the  mob.  Hence, 
while  the  Catholic  Flemish  are  still  rich  in  their 
Primitives,  the  Northern  Provinces  cannot  show 
much  of  the  work  of  the  men  of  the  14th  and  15th 
centuries.  The  Archiepiscopal  Museum  in  Utrecht 
possesses  some  of  the  few  that  remain. 

Utrecht  has  also  a  public  museum  which  ante- 
dates the  Ryksmuseum  of  Amsterdam  by  one  year. 
This  Museum  "  Kunstliefde "  was  founded  in 
1807  by  a  society  of  amateurs,  called  "  Kunst- 
liefde" (Love  for  art).  In  1815  their  collection 
was  increased  with  the  paintings  of  the  local 
Painters*  Guild  of  St.  Luke,  so  that  fifty-four  pic- 
tures were  brought  together.  In  1879  several 
paintings  belonging  to  various  hospitals  were 
added,  and  since  that  time  the  number  has  increased 
by  gift  and  purchase  to  a  round  hundred.  The 
majority  of  these  paintings  give  an  excellent  re- 
view of  the  work  of  the  local  artists,  such  as  the 


Ube  Hrt  Oallcrtes  ot  I30llan0  7 

three  Bloemaerts,  van  Poelenburg/  Moreelse,  van 
Honthorst,  and  others.  A  few  modern  paintings 
are  also  on  exhibition. 

The  Royal  Museum  of  The  Hague,  the  Maurit- 
shuis,  thanks  its  conception  to  the  art-patronage 
of  the  Princes  of  Orange,  who  from  the  beginning 
of  the  17th  century  encouraged  the  Dutch  artists 
by  purchases  and  commissions.  The  famous 
series  of  five  paintings  by  Rembrandt  on  "  The 
Passion "  were  originally  ordered  by  Prins  Fred- 
crik  Hendrik.  Through  collateral  inheritance 
they  went  to  Germany,  and  are  now  in  the  Munich 
Pinacothek.  Most  of  the  paintings  collected  by  the 
Orange  Princes  shared  the  fate  of  the  Passion 
Series,  by  being  dispersed  at  the  death  of  their 
owners.  Still  a  goodly  part  remained  in  Holland, 
until  in  the  i8th  century  the  Stadhouder  Willem  IV 
(1711-1751),  and  especially  his  son  Willem  V 
(1748- 1 806)  organized  a  collection  which  soon  ac- 
quired some  celebrity.  It  was  located  in  the  Buiten- 
hof,  near  the  Gevangenpoort,  and  the  Prince  made 
constant  additions  by  purchase  from  the  best  private 
collections  of  those  times,  as  the  Lormier,  d'Acosta, 
de  Neufville,  de  la  Court,  Braamcamp,  and  G.  van 
Slingelandt.  The  last  named  collection  was  pur- 
chased for  50,000  guilders,  and  consisted  of  forty 
paintings,  which  belong  to  the  finest  of  the  gallery. 

'  The  preposition  van  in  Dutch  proper  names  never  commences 
with  a  capital  V. 


8     Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  IRetbcrlanb  (Ballcrtes 

When  the  Stadhouder  left  his  country  during  the 
Napoleonic  war,  the  French  carried  off  his  pictures 
to  Paris  in  1795,  as  they  did  the  pictures  from  the 
most  important  galleries  of  Europe.  After  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  this  booty  of  war  was  restored 
as  far  as  possible  to  the  original  owners,  and  in 
181 5  Colonel  de  Man,  Mr.  J.  Z.  Mazel,  and  some 
other  gentlemen  were  sent  to  Paris  to  bring  back 
the  Dutch  pictures.  Louis  XVIII  refused  his 
consent,  fearing  to  make  himself  unpopular;  but 
with  the  aid  of  Wellington  the  committee  succeeded 
in  recovering  most  of  their  treasures.  Only  sixty- 
eight  of  the  paintings,  fortunately  the  least  impor- 
tant ones,  had  to  be  left  behind.  The  paintings 
were  loaded  in  ambulance  wagons,  started  on  their 
homeward  way,  and  arrived  in  The  Hague  on  the 
20th  of  November,  18 15,  the  cannon  thundering, 
the  bells  ringing,  and  the  populace  loud  in  demon- 
stration. 

King  Willem  I,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Stadhouder 
Willem  V,  transferred  by  royal  decree  the  collec- 
tion to  the  State,  and  in  July,  1821,  it  was  placed 
in  the  Mauritshuis.  This  building  was  built  be- 
tween 1633  ^"^  1644  by  the  architect  Pieter  Post, 
after  the  plan  of  Jacob  van  Campen,  who  also  de- 
signed the  City  Hall  (now  the  Royal  Palace)  at 
Amsterdam.  Count  Johan  Maurits  van  Nassau, 
Grovernor  of  Brazil,  then  a  Dutch  possession,  occu- 


LUKAS 

VAN  LEIDEN 


THE    LAST    JUDGMENT 

Plate  II 
(See  page  355) 


Lokenhal 
Leyden 


Ube  art  Oalleries  ot  IbollanD  9 

pied  this  palace  until  his  death  in  1679,  when  the 
building  fell  into  the  hands  of  his  creditors,  who 
leased  it  to  the  States  General.  For  some  years 
it  was  used  as  a  residence  for  foreign  ambassadors, 
but  in  December,  1704,  when  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough was  its  occupant,  the  palace  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  the  outer  walls  only  remaining.  It  was, 
however,  completely  restored  to  its  original  state, 
with  the  exception  of  the  interior,  which  was 
greatly  simplified.  The  building  was  then  used  for 
various  Government  purposes.  In  1797  it  served  as 
a  prison  of  State,  its  cellars  being  let  to  wine  mer- 
chants. In  1807  the  National  Library  was  housed 
here.  In  1820  the  building  became  at  last  Govern- 
ment property,  being  purchased  for  35,000  guil- 
ders, and  the  following  year  the  "  Cabinet "  of 
Willem  V  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  has  become 
one  of  the  choicest  public  collections  in  Europe. 
The  Government  set  itself  at  once  to  increase  the 
collection  by  several  purchases,  the  most  important 
being  Vermeer's  "  View  of  Delft,"  an  extremely 
rare  canvas,  and  in  1828  Rembrandt's  "  Anatomy 
Lesson  of  Professor  Tulp,"  the  latter  at  a  cost  of 
only  32,000  guilders  (about  $13,000).  No  addi- 
tions were  made  between  183 1  and  1874.  Since 
then  the  Mauritshuis  has  been  enriched  through 
donations,  bequests,  loans,  and  purchases. 

Het  Huis  Ten  Bosch  (the  House  in  the  Woods) 


10   Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Hetberlanb  Gallertes 

is  practically  in  the  same  condition  as  when  built 
in  1647  by  Amalia  van  Solms,  in  memory  of  her 
husband  Prins  Frederik  Hendrik.  It  contains 
many  paintings,  but  is  especially  noteworthy  for 
its  "  Oranje  Zaal,"  a  magnificent  Hall,  50  feet 
high,  with  mural  paintings  by  different  artists, 
and  representing  allegorical  portrayals  of  incidents 
in  the  life  of  the  Prince. 

The  Municipal  Museum  of  The  Hague  contains 
a  number  of  old  and  modern  paintings.  It  is  lo- 
cated in  the  ancient  Doelen  of  Arquebusiers  of 
Saint  Sebastian,  and  was  opened  to  the  public  in 
1884.  The  collection  consists  of  paintings  for- 
merly in  the  city  hall,  and  those  collected  by  a 
society,  founded  in  185 1,  for  the  improvement  of 
local  culture.  The  latest  acquisition  has  been  the 
private  collection  of  Doctor  van  den  Burg. 

The  Museum  Mesdag  in  The  Hague  is  one  of 
the  most  artistic  museums  devoted  to  modern  art. 
It  originated  in  the  art-love  and  connoisseurship 
of  the  marine  painter,  H.  W.  Mesdag,  and  of  his 
wife,  Mrs.  Mesdag-van  Houten,  the  noted  still- 
life  and  landscape  painter.  They  had  no  thought 
of  founding  a  museum  when  for  their  own  pleasure 
they  collected  paintings  and  works  of  art  that  ap- 
pealed to  their  artistic  taste.  They  bought  art 
objects  to  live  with,  and  did  not  confine  themselves 
to  pictures,  but  collected  a  wealth  of  Oriental  ob- 


Ube  art  ©allertes  oX  Dollan&         n 

jects,  as  well  as  products  of  Dutch  kilns  and  tap- 
estries from  Asiatic  looms. 

The  Museum  Mesdag  is  an  artist's  chef  d'osuvre 
of  collecting.  As  to  the  paintings  let  it  be  known 
that,  besides  the  magnificent  pictures  that  hang  on 
these  walls,  there  is  a  large  number  of  unusually 
fine  sketches  and  so-called  "  lay-ins "  by  modern 
masters.  I  need  not  enlarge  here  upon  the  artistic 
value  of  sketches  as  compared  with  finished  pic- 
tures. To  the  layman  the  latter  are  of  most  inter- 
est; the  artist,  however,  is  often  more  carried  away 
by  the  snappy,  hasty  sketch,  denoting  to  the  full 
the  inspiration,  the  emotion  of  the  painter  by  its 
spontaneous  expression.  There  are  few  anecdotal 
pictures  here,  the  thought  uppermost  has  always 
been  to  search  for  quality,  for  true  art. 

The  Mesdags  were  also  among  the  first  to  rec- 
ognize the  Barbizon  men,  and  Mr.  Mesdag  sub- 
stantially showed  his  appreciation  of  their  work 
by  purchase.  Hence  we  find  here  the  finest  col- 
lection of  paintings  of  the  Fontainebleau  School 
in  existence.  Daubigny,  for  instant,  may  not  be 
studied  anywhere  but  here  for  the  fulness  of  his 
power.  And  as  a  personal  expression  I  would 
avow  that  Millet's  "  Hagar  and  Ishmael,"  which 
hangs  here  in  the  place  of  honour,  is  the  greatest 
work  this  master  has  ever  produced. 

In   1903   Mr.   and  Mrs.   Mesdag  donated  their 


13   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  Tletberlan^  Oallcries 

museum  to  the  Government  —  a  princely  gift,  the 
value  of  which  the  future  will  enhance. 

The  Hague  is  also  rich  in  private  collections, 
which  may  be  visited  on  application. 

The  collection  of  Mr.  Victor  de  Steurs  contains, 
besides  the  works  of  celebrated  masters,  a  number 
of  works  by  painters  of  less  note,  but  of  great  in- 
terest for  the  study  of  Dutch  Art. 

The  collection  of  Baron  Steengracht  is  one  of 
the  most  important  in  Holland.  One  gallery  is 
devoted  to  modem  art,  two  others  contain  a  selec- 
tion of  upwards  of  eighty  old  paintings,  many  of 
which  are  of  the  best  products  of  the  17th  century 
Dutch  School. 

Two  smaller  collections,  of  the  late  Prince 
Frederik  Hendrik,  and  of  Mr.  des  Tombs,  have  a 
few  choice  examples. 

The  Ryks  Museum  of  Amsterdam,  with  its  3,000 
paintings,  is  of  course  the  most  important  one  of 
the  Netherland  Galleries.  The  collection  was  orig- 
inally founded  by  King  Louis  Bonaparte  by  royal 
decree  of  April  ist,  1808,  the  decree  being  the  only 
contribution  he  made  to  the  collection.  It  con- 
sisted at  first  of  96  paintings  of  the  cabinet  of 
Willem  V,  which  the  French  had  left  in  the  coun- 
try; 57  paintings  which  the  Grovernment  bought 
in  1808  for  100,000  guilders  at  the  sale  in  Rotter- 
dam of  the  collection  of  G.  van  der  Pot  van  Groene- 


XTbe  Hrt  Galleries  ot  f)oUan&         is 

veld;  a  few  paintings  donated  by  the  city  of  The 
Hague;  and  7  loaned  by  the  city  of  Amsterdam. 
Among  these  were  the  most  famous  treasures, 
Rembrandt's  "  Night  Watch,"  the  "  Syndics,"  and 
the  "  Peace  Banquet "  of  van  der  Heist.  The  en- 
tire collection  van  Heteren  of  137  paintings  was 
bought  in  1809  for  100,000  guilders,  and  a  few 
gifts  were  received.  King  Louis  kept  this  so-called 
National  Collection  in  his  own  palace  in  Amster- 
dam; but  in  1815,  after  he  had  been  sent  back  to 
Paris,  the  paintings,  numbering  about  300,  were 
transferred  to  the  "  Trippenhuis,"  a  mediaeval 
building  on  the  Kloveniersburgwal.  Here  the  col- 
lection grew.  In  1823  a  legacy  was  received  from 
Mme.  Balguerie  van  Ryswyck,  after  which  occa- 
sional gifts  were  added,  until  in  1870  Mr.  L.  Dup- 
per  Wz.  donated  one-half  of  his  fine  collection,  the 
other  half  remaining  in  Mr.  Dupper's  native  city 
of  Dordrecht,  where  it  forms  the  nucleus  of  the 
municipal  museum.  This  added  sixty-four  impor- 
tant old  masters  to  the  National  Museum.  In 
1880  followed  the  equally  important  legacy  of 
fifty-two  paintings  from  Mr.  J.  S.  H.  van  de  Poll. 
The  collection  gradually  outgrew  its  quarters, 
which  had  never  been  advantageous  to  the  display 
of  the  masterpieces  they  sheltered.  In  1877  ^  ^" 
ginning  was  made  with  the  building  of  the  present 
Ryks  Museum,  after  plans  by  the  architect  P.  J.  H. 


14   Ube  Hrt  or  tbe  laetberlanb  aallertcs 

Kuypers,  It  is  in  the  so-called  Old-Holland  Re- 
naissance style,  retaining  numerous  Gothic  and 
Romanesque  features,  with  an  imposing  facade, 
richly  decorated  with  sculpture  and  coloured  titles. 
It  was  completed  and  dedicated  in  1885,  when  the 
collection  of  the  Trippenhuis  was  transferred,  to- 
gether with  the  collection  van  der  Hoop  (226  paint- 
ings, many  of  great  importance)  which  had  been 
left  to  the  State  in  1854,  but  had  been  on  exhibi- 
tion since  that  time  in  a  quaint  old  monastic  build- 
ing in  the  heart  of  the  city,  now  occupied  by  the 
Municipal  University. 

The  van  der  Hoop,  Dupper,  and  van  de  Poll 
collections  have  by  testamentary  requirement  sep- 
arate galleries  in  which  they  are  displayed.  They 
contain  several  masterpieces,  and  also  examples  by 
men  who  are  not  represented  elsewhere  in  the  mu- 
seum: Various  corporation  pieces  belonging  to  the 
city  of  Amsterdam  and  to  local  benevolent  insti- 
tutions were  added.  The  collection  in  the  Ryks- 
museum  may  now  be  considered  the  most  complete 
for  the  study  of  Dutch  Art,  from  its  beginning  to 
the  early  part  of  the  19th  century. 

The  ground  floor  of  the  Ryksmuseum  is  de- 
voted to  a  display  of  antique  objects  connected 
with  Dutch  history,  as  musical  instruments,  furni- 
ture, typical  costumes  of  different  parts  of  the 
country,  carriages  and  sleighs,  household  utensils, 


Zbc  Hrt  (Ballerics  ot  DollanD         15 

ecclesiastical  art  and  architecture,  a  magnificent  col- 
lection of  Dutch  pottery,  a  collection  of  war-tro- 
phies, and  many  other  objects  of  interest  to  the 
antiquarian.  A  few  galleries  in  a  wing-  on  the 
south-east  corner  are  devoted  to  Dutch  Art  of  the 
19th  century,  together  with  a  number  of  fine  Bar- 
bizon  pictures.  These  are  the  van  Lynden  and  the 
Drucker  bequests.  The  second  floor  is  devoted 
entirely  to  a  more  or  less  chronologically  arranged 
display  of  Dutch  Art  of  the  17th  century. 

It  is  the  place  here  to  call  attention  to  a  sad 
innovation  which  took  place  with  the  Rembrandt 
celebration  of  1906, 

One  of  the  most  glorious  views  on  earth  was 
the  grand  vista  through  the  long  "  Eere  Gallery," 
or  Gallery  of  Honour,  which  leads  from  the  foyer 
on  the  second  floor  to  what  was  called  the  Rem- 
brandt Gallery.  A  first  view  of  Niagara  Falls, 
of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  of  the  Grand  Cafion  of 
the  Colorado,  of  the  interior  of  St.  Sophia  in  Con- 
stantinople —  only  thus  can  we  realize  the  impres- 
sion made  when,  turning  from  behind  the  screen 
in  the  forehall,  one  saw  in  the  distance  that  most 
wonderful  of  all  paintings,  the  "  Night  Watch," 
which  alone  would  have  made  Rembrandt  "  King 
of  the  brush." 

True  —  when  slowly  walking  through  the  half- 
dark  of  the  long  corridor,  which  only  receives  its 


i6   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  'fletberlan&  Galleries 

light  from  the  side  alcoves,  one  approached  the 
painting  and  entered  that  old  Rembrandt  gallery 
with  its  top-light,  one  would  agree  that  all  the 
beauty  of  technic  of  this  painting  could  not  be 
recognized. 

To  remedy  this  defect  a  commission  of  experts, 
after  years  of  confab,  brought  forth  a  new  arrange- 
ment, which  consists  of  a  "  lean-to,"  built  back  of 
this  old  Rembrandt  gallery,  containing  a  new  room 
for  the  "  Night  Watch,"  and  a  few  smaller  cab- 
inets for  the  famous  "  Staalmeesters "  and  some 
other  paintings  by  Rembrandt. 

The  result  has  been  calculated  with  mathemat- 
ical precision.  The  grand  painting  stands  along 
the  short  wall  in  a  room  26  by  39  feet.  The  ceil- 
ing is  of  oak  panelling,  and  the  light  comes  through 
a  long,  high  window  in  the  wall  to  the  left  of  the 
painting,  which  light  is  broken  by  some  ten  coulisses 
or  screens  which  reflect  the  light  evenly  over  the 
whole  canvas.  On  the  left  part  of  the  painting, 
nearest  the  window,  is  a  disturbing  reflection. 
With  this  one  exception  the  arrangement  of  light- 
ing may  be  considered  perfect,  and  the  painting  is 
now  seen,  presumably,  under  the  same  conditions 
of  light  under  which  Rembrandt  painted  it.  It 
may  now  be  studied  to  better  advantage.  Its  tech- 
nical masterfulness  has  never  before  been  so  fully 
demonstrated.    The  problem  which  the  commission 


JAN   VAN 
DOSTSANEN 


SALOME 

Plate  III 
{Sec   page   308) 


Mauritshuis 
The  Hague 


xrbe  Hrt  Galleries  ot  t)ollan&         17 

set  itself  has  been  solved  by  applying  every  rule  of 
yardstick,  theories  of  light  angles  and  calculation. 

But  this  is  not  all. 

The  grandest  painting  on  earth  is  put  in  a  closet. 

There  is  no  distance  from  which  to  view  it. 
Pressing  close  against  the  opposite  wall  one  is  less 
than  forty  feet  away  from  the  heroic  figures  that 
stretch  over  a  canvas  twenty  feet  wide.  It  is  im- 
possible to  see  the  entire  composition  without  turn- 
ing the  head  from  side  to  side  —  a  reproduction  on 
a  postal  card,  held  at  the  proper  distance,  is  more 
impressive. 

And  then  to  remember  the  glorious  view  of  the 
old  place. 

It  is  a  memory  —  but  may  the  time  come  that 
this  painting  be  restored  to  its  old  place,  another 
solution  of  the  light  problem  be  found,  and  the 
vista  of  the  corridor  enable  us  to  appreciate  anew 
the  pictorial  supremacy  of  this  masterpiece. 

Back  of  the  Ryksmuseum  stands  the  Municipal 
Museum  of  Amsterdam,  for  modem  Dutch  Art. 
The  existence  of  this  museum  is  to  be  ascribed  to 
the  love  for  art  and  the  energy  of  the  van  Eeghen 
family,  patricians  of  Amsterdam.  In  1874  Mr. 
C.  P.  van  Eeghen  organized  a  society  to  form  a 
public  collection  of  Modern  Art,  and  ten  years  later 
the  collection  which  had  been  started,  mainly 
through  loans  of  paintings  belonging  to  Mr.  J.  H. 


i8   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  taetberlanO  Oallertcs 

van  Eeghen  and  Mr.  J.  B.  Westerwoudt,  was  es- 
tablished in  the  Ryksmuseum.  After  another  ten 
years,  in  1894,  the  present  building  was  erected, 
again  mainly  through  the  efforts  of  the  van  Eeghen 
family,  and  since  then  the  collection  has  been  aug- 
mented by  gifts,  bequests,  loans,  and  purchases. 
The  museum  contains  a  collection  of  pictures 
which,  being  amplified  by  those  in  the  Municipal 
museum  of  The  Hague  and  the  Mesdag  museum, 
gives  an  excellent  review  of  the  19th  century 
Dutch  school,  as  well  as  of  the  best  masters  of  the 
modem  French  school. 

The  Six  Collection  of  Amsterdam  is  located  in 
the  residence  of  Professor  J.  Six  (Heerengracht 
511),  and  may  be  seen  on  application.  This  col- 
lection was  originally  formed  by  Mynheer  van 
Winter  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  and 
passed  by  inheritance  in  1820  to  his  son-in-law, 
Jonkheer  Six  van  Hillegom,  the  descendant  of 
Burgomaster  Jan  Six,  whereby  the  famous  Six 
family  portraits  came  into  the  collection.  This 
gallery  contains  many  of  the  best  works  of  the 
17th  century  school. 

The  Museum  Fodor  (Keizersgracht  609)  was 
founded  by  a  wealthy  merchant  of  that  name,  who 
died  in  i860.  He  left  funds  for  its  maintenance 
as  a  public  museum.  The  collection  is  devoted 
to  ancient  and  modern  masters,  and  has  a  fine  ac- 
cumulation of  drawings. 


Zbc  art  (Ballertes  of  l)ollanD         19 

We  leave  now  Amsterdam  and  journey  to  Haar- 
lem. It  is  said  that  Velasquez  can  nowhere  be 
studied  so  well  as  in  the  Prado  —  neither  is  it  pos- 
sible to  study  Frans  Hals  to  such  good  purpose 
as  in  the  old  Toumhall  of  Haarlem.  This  ancient 
building  was  originally  a  palace  of  the  Counts  of 
Holland,  dating  from  the  13th  century.  In  the 
15th  century  it  served  as  a  Dominican  monastery, 
but  with  the  Reformation  it  was  confiscated  to 
municipal  use,  and  slightly  remodelled  in  1633. 
Many  of  the  paintings  which  are  gathered  in  this 
ancient  building  have  been  the  property  of  the  city 
for  generations.  To  these  have  been  added  many 
gifts,  the  most  important  being  a  legacy  of  Jonk- 
heer  Fabricius  van  Leyenburg. 

A  curious  instance  of  official  carelessness  ob- 
trudes itself  here.  While  this  building  contains 
priceless  treasures  of  art,  it  is  in  a  most  precari- 
ous condition  by  danger  of  fire.  The  old  pleasure 
grounds  and  cloister  gardens  that  surrounded  the 
edifice  have  been  compactly  filled  with  small  dwell- 
ing-houses, many  leaning  against  the  rear  wall  of 
the  old  building.  Should  a  conflagration  start  in 
this  nest  of  humanity  there  is  absolutely  no  hope 
of  saving  the  paintings  in  the  Townhall.  The 
small  doorways  and  crooked  stairways  of  this  me- 
diaeval building  would  not  allow  the  most  valuable 
paintings,    all    large   canvases,    to    be   carried   to 


20   TTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  iaetberlan&  Gallertes 

safety.  It  might  have  been  thought  that  fair  warn- 
ing was  given  by  the  fire  which  destroyed  the  Boy- 
mans  Museum  of  Rotterdam  in  1864,  entaihng  the 
loss  of  more  than  two-thirds,  and  that  the  most 
valuable  part  of  its  collection  of  paintings.  But 
this  warning  has  never  been  heeded  by  Haarlem, 
and  the  neglect  to  provide  some  safeguards  against 
a  like  fate  befalling  the  wonderful  masterpieces  of 
Frans  Hals  becomes  criminal.  An  international 
protest  against  such  official  stupidity  would  not  be 
out  of  place.  The  building,  itself  of  the  utmost 
interest  for  its  archaeological  value,  should  at  least 
stand  detached  from  the  little  dwelling-houses 
which  hem  it  in  on  two  sides. 

The  Teyler  Museum  of  Haarlem,  while  princi- 
pally consecrated  to  science,  contains  also  a  collec- 
tion of  a  hundred  paintings  of  the  Dutch  artists 
of  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  together  with  a 
valuable  collection  of  drawings  and  sketches  by  old 
masters.  The  museum  was  founded  by  a  bequest 
of  Peter  Teyler  van  der  Hulst,  a  wealthy  Haarlem 
merchant  who  died  in  1778,  leaving  the  half  of  his 
property  to  be  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  science 
and  the  collecting  of  the  products  of  the  graphic 
arts,  and  the  other  half  to  the  poor.  The  directors 
decided  in  1821  to  interpret  the  provision  of  the 
will  liberally  by  including  the  purchase  of  paint- 
ings. 


Zbc  Hrt  (Ballcries  of  DollanO         21 

The  Lakenhal  of  Leyden  is  one  of  those  beau- 
tiful old  buildings  that  are  found  in  almost  every 
city  and  town  of  Holland.  It  dates  from  the  17th 
century,  and  was  used  as  the  staple  or  test-house 
for  the  principal  source  of  Leyden's  wealth,  cloth- 
weaving. 

This  historic  old  building  was  chosen  to  harbour 
the  collections  of  the  municipal  museum,  founded 
in  1869,  and  designed  to  illustrate  various  branches 
of  municipal  administration  by  means  of  many 
curious,  antiquarian  objects,  of  great  interest  to 
the  study  of  local  history.  A  large  number  of 
paintings,  almost  all  by  Leyden  masters,  were  also 
transferred  from  the  cityhall  and  from  the  Holy 
Ghost  Orphan  Asylum. 

The  Boymans  Museum  of  Rotterdam  at  one 
time  ranked  next  in  importance  to  the  Ryksmuseum 
and  the  Mauritshuis,  before  the  17th  century  build- 
ing was  burned  down  in  1864.  Upwards  of  300 
paintings  were  destroyed,  only  163  of  the  smaller 
ones  being  saved.  Several  French  writers,  Louis 
Viardot,  Theophile  Gautier,  and  especially  Thore, 
who  wrote  under  the  nom  de  plume  Burger,  have 
left  us  laudatory  descriptions  of  this  important  col- 
lection when  it  was  still  intact.  It  was  formed  by 
Mr.  Boymans,  a  judge  of  the  Courts  of  Utrecht, 
who  left  it  to  the  city  of  Rotterdam,  his  native 
place,  in  1847,  when  it  consisted  of  500  paintings 


22 


Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlanC)  Galleries 


and  4,000  drawings  by  the  old  masters.  Within 
three  years  after  the  fire,  however,  local  public 
pride  had  caused  the  rebuilding  of  the  ancient  edi- 
fice in  its  original  form,  and  a  beginning  was  made 
to  refurnish  the  walls  of  its  six  well-lighted  gal- 
leries. At  present  there  are  about  450  paintings, 
principally  of  the  Dutch  genre  painters,  and  of 
local  artists. 

After  this  enumeration  of  the  Netherland  Gal- 
leries we  will  now  turn  to  the  artists  whose  works 
are  found  in  these  museums.  The  division  to  be 
followed  is  obvious.  Rembrandt  may  well  be  con- 
sidered to  represent  the  pinnacle  Dutch  Art  has 
reached.  His  coming  marked  an  epoch,  and  his 
influence  materially  affected  the  art  of  his  time. 
Those  who  were  before  him  followed  a  path  of 
gradual  development  to  high  attainment.  With 
Rembrandt  the  zenith  was  reached.  His  revela- 
tions in  colour  and  clear-obscure,  the  fecundity  of 
his  invention,  the  marvellous  eloquence  of  his  brush 
—  all  this  swayed  his  contemporaries,  and  opened 
new  vistas  of  beauty  to  be  pursued  with  more  or 
less  success  by  those  that  came  after  him. 


CHAPTER    II 

BEFORE   REMBRANDT 

The  beginning  of  Dutch  Art  was  closely  allied 
with  the  miniature  painting  of  the  Flemish,  with- 
out attaining  to  the  perfection  of  Memlinc,  Quen- 
tin  Massys  and  others  of  the  Antwerp  school.  In 
Haarlem  we  find  the  first  trace  of  this  work  in  an 
illuminated  manuscript  that  was  ordered  by  the 
Heeren  of  St.  Jan  (Brotherhood  of  St.  John).  It 
is  a  translation  of  the  Bible  by  Hieronymus,  still 
preserved  in  the  city  library  of  Haarlem,  but  in 
a  deplorable  condition,  as  more  than  half  of  the 
pages  on  which  the  miniatures  appeared  have  been 
cut  out.  These  little  paintings  were  the  work  of 
Geertgen  van  St.  Jans,  who  lived  in  the  15th  cen- 
tury. That  he  had  learned  also  the  method  of  oil 
painting  of  the  van  Eycks  is  seen  in  two  of  his 
pictures  now  in  the  Ryksmuseum,  and  also  in  a 
triptych  in  the  Episcopal  museum  of  Utrecht, 
which  are  the  earliest  Dutch  easel  paintings  in 
existence.     He  is  said  to  have  been  the  pupil  of 

23 


34   xrbe  art  ot  tbe  'Ketberlan&  aallertes 

Aalbert  van  Ouwater,  but  of  this  painter  we  only 
know  by  reputation. 

A  contemporary,  Gerard  Jan  Davidsz./  who  died 
in  1523,  has  left  nothing  but  a  painting  which  must 
have  been  stolen  from  Haarlem  when  the  Spaniards 
took  that  city  in  1573;  at  least  it  is  now  in  Rouen. 
It  represents  a  Madonna  and  her  attendants.  Of 
Dirck  Bouts  van  Haarlem  (1420-1475),  who 
moved  to  Louvain  to  study  with  Rogier  van  der 
Weiden,  we  have  nothing  left  —  a  work  in  the 
Boymans  Museum  at  Rotterdam,  attributed  to  him, 
being  apparently  of  later  date. 

We  become  a  little  surer  with  the  men  who  hailed 
from  Leyden.  There  we  find  Comelis  Engel- 
brechtsz.  (1468-1533)  working  at  a  large  altar- 
piece,  a  triptych,  which  was  ordered  by  the  cloister 
brothers  of  Marienpoel.  It  was  so  well  liked,  when 
completed,  that  Jakob  Martini,  the  abbot,  ordered 
another  one.  The  monks  prized  these  paintings 
highly,  and  when  the  "  Image  Storm "  occurred 
in  1566  both  triptychs  were  securely  hidden.  They 
are  now  in  the  Lakenhal  in  Leyden,  the  only  work 
that  remains  of  this  master. 

His  pupil,  Lukas  van  Leiden  (1494- 1533),  was 
one  of  the  ablest  men  of  his  time,  not  only  as  a 
painter,  but  also  as  an  engraver.     Of  his  copper 

'  The  ending  sz.  added  to  a  given  name,  as  Davidsz.,  Willemsz., 
is  an  abbreviation  of  Davidszoon,  "Willemszoon,  meaning  the  son  of 
David,  etc. 


ft; 


Before  IRembran^t  25 

plates  two  hundred  examples  have  been  saved,  but 
of  all  his  easel  work  only  one  triptych  is  left. 
Many  of  his  pictures  were  in  the  cloister  of  the 
White  Nuns  when  that  terrible,  fanatical  mob 
burst  in  the  doors  to  destroy  the  emblems  of  the 
hated  church.  One  of  the  burgomasters  hurried 
to  Saint  Peter's  Church  and  quickly  secured  from 
the  sacristan  an  altarpiece  which  Lukas  had 
painted,  hid  it  in  his  house,  and  when  the  fury 
had  subsided,  hung  it  in  the  cityhall.  It  Is  now 
also  in  the  Lakenhal,  Two  wings  of  a  triptych  in 
the  Ryksmuseum  are,  according  to  Dr.  Bredius, 
unduly  ascribed  to  Lukas.  He  did  not  confine 
himself  to  sacred  art.  There  is  in  the  collection 
of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  a  painting  by  Lukas,  rep- 
resenting nine  persons,  men  and  women,  playing 
cards,  and  his  copper  engravings  are  most  devoted 
to  subjects  taken  from  daily  life.  They  are  won- 
derfully expressive  of  character,  and  Vasari  already 
remarked  that  "  they  could  not  have  been  done  bet- 
ter with  paint."  In  1520  Lukas  desired  to  visit  his 
Brabant  and  Flemish  brethren,  and  when  in  Ant- 
werp he  met  Albert  Diirer,  who  wrote  of  him  in  his 
well-known  journal,  "  Master  Lukas,  who  engraves 
in  copper,  has  invited  me  to  his  inn;  he  is  a  little 
man  from  Leyden,  in  Holland."  Durer  was  much 
attracted  to  him,  for  their  work  is  remarkably  sym- 
pathetic. 


36   Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  'fletberlan&  Oallerles 

An  original  genius  was  working  at  this  time 
in  North-Brabant.  Hieronymus,  or  Jeroen,  Bosch 
(1462-1516)  possessed  a  most  wonderful,  fantas- 
tic invention  in  creating  queer  creatures  and  mon- 
strosities to  populate  his  representations  of  the 
nether  regions,  whereby  he  satirized  all  human 
frailties  —  a  mockery  which  was  not  only  relished 
but  followed  by  many  men  that  came  after  him, 
and  plainly  furnished  inspiration  to  Lucas  Cranach 
and  to  Diirer.  Most  of  his  paintings  still  extant 
are  found  to-day  in  Spain.  The  Ryksmuseum  has 
a  characteristic  work,  and  a  "  Temptation  of  Saint 
Anthony  "  is  found  in  the  museum  "  Kunstliefde  " 
in  Utrecht. 

These  earliest  painters  of  Holland,  while  related 
to  their  Southern  neighbours  of  Ghent  and  Bruges, 
showed,  nevertheless,  in  technic  certain  individual 
tendencies.  Their  more  serious  nature  manifested 
itself  by  greater  realism,  tending  to  keener  famil- 
iarity with  the  attitudes  of  their  figures,  by  the 
frankness  of  the  features,  by  love  for  landscape  set- 
tings, and  by  strong  colours.  They  became,  how- 
ever, soon  infected  with  the  Italianizing  tendencies 
of  their  Flemish  neighbours,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
work  of  Jakob  Comelisz.  van  Oostsanen  (1480- 
I533)>  who  worked  in  Amsterdam,  which  is  all 
we  know  of  his  life.  The  Mauritshuis  has  a  "  Sa- 
lome "  by  this  artist  that  bespeaks  this  Italian  in- 


JSetore  1Reml)ran^t  27 

fluence.  The  attribution  of  the  triptych  that  goes 
there  by  his  name  might  be  contested.  Nor  can 
we  conscientiously  accord  authority  to  the  two  ex- 
amples attributed  to  him  in  the  Ryksmuseum,  if 
compared  with  his  "  Adoration  of  the  Magi  "  in 
the  Episcopal  museum  of  Utrecht. 

His  Italian  imitation  had  been  only  second-hand 
by  way  of  Antwerp.  His  pupil  Jan  van  Scorel 
(1495-1562)  was  the  first  to  make  the  journey  to 
Venice  and  Rome,  for  which  he  was  nicknamed 
"  the  lantern  carrier  and  roadmaker  of  Netherland 
art."  Van  Scorel  was  bom  in  a  little  village  to  the 
north  of  Amsterdam,  where  he  early  lost  his  par- 
ents. He  was  sent  to  a  Latin  school  in  Alkmaar 
to  be  educated  for  the  priesthood,  but  gave  such 
unmistakable  evidence  of  his  artistic  bent  that  with 
his  fourteenth  year  we  find  him  in  the  studio  of 
a  Haarlem  painter,  Willem  Cornelisz.,  whom  he  left 
after  three  years  to  work  with  van  Oostsanen  in 
Amsterdam.  When  well  qualified  he  heard  that 
Jan  Gossart,  better  known  as  Mabuse,  had  come 
from  Antwerp  to  Utrecht  to  paint  for  Bishop 
Philip,  and  our  ambitious  young  man  hied  himself 
to  Utrecht  for  further  instruction.  Although  he 
greatly  benefited  by  his  intercourse  with  the  noted 
Fleming,  as  may  be  seen  in  many  of  his  compo- 
sitions, his  master's  dissolute  life  was  too  distaste- 
ful to  bear  for  long.    Many  a  time  van  Scorel  had 


28   Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  "fletberlant)  Galleries 

to  pay  the  scot  in  the  low  dives  which  the  Southern 
bon-vivant  frequented,  even  being  in  danger  of  his 
life  when  he  one  time  essayed  to  rescue  Mabuse 
from  a  drunken  brawl.  He  soon  left  Utrecht  and 
his  teacher,  and  set  out  on  his  journeys,  followed 
the  Rhine,  and  via  Basel  reached  Venice.  Here 
a  company  of  Dutch  pilgrims  persuaded  him  to 
go  with  them  to  the  Holy  Land.  On  his  return  to 
Italy  he  visited  Rome,  where  the  Pope  Adrian, 
whose  portrait  he  painted,  became  his  patron.  One 
will  readily  recognize  a  Titian  influence  in  his 
"  Magdalene,"  now  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  Haar- 
lem and  Utrecht  monasteries  claimed  him  alter- 
nately when  he  reached  Holland  again,  and  finally 
he  entered  the  priesthood  as  a  canon  in  Utrecht. 
Van  Scorel  may  be  said  to  be  the  first  to  have  intro- 
duced portraiture  in  Holland.  A  work  of  his  in 
the  Boymans  museum  and  his  group  paintings  in 
Haarlem  and  Amsterdam  are  the  earliest  examples 
in  this  branch  of  art.  He  was  an  assimilative 
artist,  easily  imbibing  the  manner  of  his  masters, 
and  revealing  their  influence  in  all  his  work.  His 
"  Portrait  of  a  Lady  "  in  the  National  Gallery  in 
London,  shows  a  Dutch  face  with  Italian  tournure 
and  expression,  and  eminently  Raphaelesque. 

The  only  one  of  his  pupils  known  to  us,  Maar- 
ten  van  Heemskerck  (1494-1574),  made  the  Ital- 
ian   journey   in    1533,    after   he   had   painted    the 


JSetore  IRembranDt  29 

"  Saint  Luke,"  now  in  the  Haarlem  museum.  In 
the  three  years  which  he  spent  in  Rome  he  devoted 
himself  especially  to  the  study  of  Michael  Angelo, 
manifest  in  his  triptych  in  Haarlem.  Many  myth- 
ological subjects  point  to  his  Italian  training,  but 
these  subjects  were  never  popular  in  Holland,  and 
those  by  Maarten  have  all  been  dispersed  to  for- 
eign museums  with  the  exception  of  one  in  the 
Ryksmuseum.  He  was  a  most  industrious  worker, 
designing  stained  glass  windows,  which  art  was 
then  in  the  ascendency,  as  well  as  etching,  engra- 
ving, and  pen-drawing,  whereby  he  became  a  prop- 
erty owner  of  great  affluence.  A  peculiar  provi- 
sion in  his  will  may  be  construed  as  a  personal 
idiosyncrasy,  although  it  is  not  far-fetched  to  see 
in  it  a  reflection  of  an  old  Dutch  sentiment  — ■ 
which  by  no  means  has  entirely  disappeared  —  that 
children  are  the  blessing  of  the  married  state.  Van 
Heemskerck,  then,  had  been  twice  married,  both 
unions  remaining  childless,  and  for  that  reason,  it 
is  said,  he  left  a  trust  fund  from  which  a  yearly 
sum  should  be  given  to  two  brides  whose  wedding 
ceremony  should  take  place  on  his  gravestone  — 
not  an  onerous  condition,  if  we  remember  that, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  he  was  buried 
in  the  church.  This  provision  was  carried  out  for 
over  two  centuries,  the  last  couple  being  married 
under  these  conditions  in  November,  1789,  as  the 
records  show. 


30   Ube  art  of  tbe  •Retbcrlan&  Galleries 

History  tells  us  of  the  terrible  catastrophe  which 
was  the  cause  that  so  little  is  left  of  early  Dutch 
art.  During  the  two  revolutionary  decades  which 
preceded  the  final  casting-  off  of  the  Spanish  yoke 
in  1568,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  were  in 
constant  turmoil.  By  the  spread  of  the  Protestant 
faith  the  people  were  at  that  time  divided  against 
each  other,  and  an  internecine  warfare  existed  be- 
tween the  adherents  of  the  old  and  of  the  new 
religions.  Those  of  the  old  were  accused,  not 
always  justly,  with  sympathy  for  the  Spanish  op- 
pressor, but  equally  unjust  was  it  to  lay  the  blame 
for  that  gruesome  darkness  of  1566,  the  so-called 
"  Image  Storm,"  upon  the  adherents  of  the  new 
faith.  It  was  an  outburst  of  anarchic  passions 
among  the  lowest  mob,  fanned  into  flame  by  fa- 
natic zealots,  which  caused  a  wave  of  destruction 
to  sweep  over  Holland,  and  which  extended  even 
to  England.  The  Prince  of  Orange,  himself  a 
Protestant,  punished  scores  of  the  bigoted  outlaws 
with  death ;  but  the  harm  was  done,  millions  of 
treasure  in  sacred  art  had  been  destroyed  in  the 
plundering  of  churches  and  cloisters.  The  work  of 
the  artists  who  did  not  confine  themselves  exclu- 
sively to  sacred  art  fared  better,  and  more  of  it 
has  come  down  to  posterity. 

The  natural  independence  of  the  Dutch  artists 
now  began  to  assert  itself.    While  still  following 


:Betore  IRembranbt  31 

the  Italian  method  in  technic,  they  commenced  to 
choose  their  own  subjects,  and  Pieter  Aertsen  may 
be  called  the  forerunner  of  the  "  little  masters " 
of  the  next  century,  Dirk  Jakobsz.,  Cornelis  Teu- 
nissen,  Dirk  Barendsz.,  all  of  Amsterdam,  and 
Antonis  Mor  of  Utrecht,  devoted  themselves,  albeit 
with  some  trepidation,  to  those  group  paintings 
and  corporation  pieces  which  the  golden  era 
brought  to  marvellous  perfection. 

Pieter  Aertsen  (1508-1575),  born  in  Purmerend, 
had  moved  with  his  parents  to  Amsterdam,  and 
after  studying  in  Antwerp,  had  returned  North. 
There  he  was  known  as  a  "  glass  painter,"  and 
many  of  his  wonderful  productions  were  placed  in 
the  Amsterdam  churches,  only  to  be  destroyed  soon 
after.  His  tall  stature  gave  him  the  nickname 
"  Lange  Pier."  An  "  Egg  Dance,"  now  in  the 
Ryksmuseum,  shows  him  at  his  best  in  genre  paint- 
ing. Dirk  Jakobsz.  (1497-1567),  the  son  of  Jakob 
van  Oostsanen,  has  left  two  small  militia  groups; 
and  Cornelis  Teunissen  (middle  of  the  i6th  cen- 
tury) painted  a  militia  banquet  in  1533,  all  now  in 
the  Ryksmuseum.  Dirk  Barendsz,  (1534-1592) 
had  been  a  pupil  of  Titian  when,  after  several 
years'  travel,  he  returned  to  Amsterdam.  He  de- 
voted himself  to  sacred  art,  of  which  only  a  trip- 
tych, now  in  the  Gouda  museum,  remains.  Two 
examples  of  his  work  in  the  Ryksmuseum  are  por- 
trait groups. 


32   XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  flctberlan5  Galleries 

A  portrait  painter  of  greater  strength  was  An- 
tonis  Mor  (1512-1576),  who  first  formed  himself 
in  his  native  Utrecht  under  Jan  van  Scorel,  and 
afterwards  visited  Italy  and  Spain.  Although 
much  impressed  with  Titian's  work  he  developed 
an  individual  style  in  portraiture.  While  in  his 
early  work  there  is  to  be  seen  the  dry,  angular 
method  of  his  Utrecht  teacher  (note  a  painting  now 
in  Berlin),  he  emancipated  himself  completely,  and 
his  later  portraits  excel  in  warm  colour  and  round- 
ness of  form,  which  is  indicated  more  by  the  man- 
agement of  the  colour  than  by  the  sharpness  of  line. 
He  was  sent  by  Philip  of  Spain  to  England  to 
paint  the  portrait  of  Mary  Tudor,  which  is  still 
one  of  the  prizes  in  the  Hampton  Court  collection, 
and  for  which  he  was  made  Sir  Anthony  More. 
After  Mary's  death  he  became  court  painter  in 
Madrid,  as  Antonio  Moro.  A  number  of  his  por- 
traits in  the  Prado  proclaim  him  the  master  of 
his  craft.  Wherever  his  work  is  to  be  seen,  in  The 
Hague,  in  Vienna,  Paris,  Brussels,  St.  Petersburg, 
or  in  private  collections  in  England,  one  must  ac- 
credit him  as  one  of  the  greatest  painters  who  had 
thus  far  appeared.  He  was  highly  paid  for  his 
work,  receiving  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
ducats  in  Spain,  and  one  hundred  pounds  in  Eng- 
land. His  cosmopolitan  residence  has  left  only  a 
few  of  his  paintings  in  his  native  land,  where  his 


Q 


Before  IRembranOt  33 

**  Portrait  of  a  Goldsmith,"  in  the  Mauritshuis, 
shows  him  at  his  best. 

The  last  painter  formed  under  Italian  influences 
was  Anthony  van  Blokland  (1532- 1585),  who, 
after  studying  in  Antwerp,  settled  in  Delft.  He 
devoted  himself  to  religious  subjects,  so  that  most 
of  his  work  is  lost.  The  museums  of  Dordrecht 
and  of  Gouda  each  possess  one  of  his  paintings. 

But  it  was  not  in  the  nature  of  the  Dutch  paint- 
ers to  be  followers.  The  Italians  themselves 
claimed  to  learn  only  from  nature,  and  Leonardo 
da  Vinci  had  already  proclaimed  that  "  one  who 
follows  a  great  master  is  not  a  son,  but  a  grandson 
of  nature,"  and  that  "  the  true  artist  must  study 
and  follow  nature  alone."  Only  in  this  way  works 
are  wrought  of  abiding  force  and  vitality. 

The  spirit  of  liberty  which  in  the  middle  of  the 
1 6th  century  was  awakening  among  the  Dutch 
manifested  itself  also  among  the  artists.  They, 
too,  desired  independence,  and  they  sought  for  self- 
expression,  unhampered  by  foreign  domination. 
They  sought  this  in  their  choice  of  subjects,  in 
their  manner  of  translating  nature,  in  their  colour, 
so  distinct  from  southern  latitudes.  And  we  find 
this  desire,  as  it  was  in  the  political  arena,  stronger 
in  the  Northern  than  in  the  Southern  Provinces. 
Hence  the  clearly  marked  distinction  which  now 
asserted  itself  fully  between  the  Flemish  and  the 


34   trbe  art  of  tbe  •fletbcrlan^  (Ballcrtes 

Dutch  schools.  The  former  continued  to  follow 
more  or  less  the  old  way.  The  Dutch,  however, 
cut  loose  entirely  from  that  subjection  which  had 
been  the  only  source  of  their  weakness.  Then  we 
behold  their  original  genius  declaring  their  appre- 
ciation of  colour  as  affected  by  atmosphere,  above 
all  that  sterling  realism  which  shows  what  is  — 
beautiful,  because  it  is.  And  with  even  greater 
virility  they  continued  until  the  i8th  century,  when, 
alas,  nationalism  weakened  and  they  followed  the 
Flemish,  albeit  a  half-century  later,  into  insignifi- 
cance. 

The  latter  part  of  the  i6th  century,  then,  pro- 
duced the  men  who,  preceding  the  dominant  figure 
of  the  17th,  paved  the  way  for  the  glories  to  come. 
No  more  ecclesiastical  art  —  now  the  life  of  the 
burgher,  in  his  home  or  in  his  assemblies  of  guards 
or  guilds,  portraits  and  more  portraits,  and  later 
peasant  life  in  landscape  or  inn.  And  when  they 
did  depict  Scriptural  scenes,  these  were  clothed  in 
the  setting  of  the  artist's  surroundings,  as  Rem- 
brandt did  in  his  Holy  Families,  or  Jan  Steen  in 
his  "  Marriage  at  Cana,"  in  the  Duke  of  Arenberg's 
collection. 

While  the  Flemish  school  with  few  or  no  excep- 
tions emanated  only  from  Antwerp,  all  the  Dutch 
cities  had  their  guilds  whose  members  vied  with 
each  other  for  eminence.     The  first  painter  who, 


JSefore  1Reml)ran&t  35 

after  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  1568,  es- 
sayed a  miHtia  group  was  the  Gouda-born  Cornelis 
Kctel  (1548-1616),  who  after  having  visited  Eng- 
land settled  in  Amsterdam.  His  "  Company  of 
Captain  Rosemans,"  in  the  Ryksmuseum,  shows 
the  new  direction  art  was  seeking.  His  portraits 
excelled  in  vivid  likeness  of  the  sitters  and  were 
much  sought  after.  Occasionally  he  amused  him- 
self by  painting  with  his  fingers  and  toes  instead 
of  with  the  brush,  and  it  is  supposed  that  a  canvas 
of  his,  now  in  Gouda,  was  executed  in  this  manner. 
Of  higher  attainment  was  Aert  Pietersen  (1550- 
1621),  of  whom  three  paintings  rest  in  the  Ryks- 
museum. The  art  of  unconscious  grouping  was 
apparently  not  yet  mastered,  but  the  lively  spirit 
of  each  of  these  heads,  and  the  warm  brown  colour, 
add  distinction.  Better  grouping  is  found  in  the 
work  of  the  talented  Cornelis  Cornelissen  van 
Haarlem  (1562-1638),  of  whom  several  corpora- 
tion and  militia  pieces  are  found  in  various  muse- 
ums. He  worked  for  a  year  with  Pourbus  and 
Coignet  in  Antwerp,  but  his  individuality  asserted 
itself  fully  when  he  had  returned  to  Haarlem.  He 
was  a  great  artist,  who  adopted  his  own  method 
of  brushing  with  a  sure  touch,  and  combined  there- 
with a  tasteful,  though  not  quite  correct  drawing 
of  the  human  form,  as  seen  in  his  "  Adam  and 
Eve  "  in  the  Ryksmuseum.     His  "  Archers'  Ban- 


36   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  Tletbcrlan&  ©alleries 

quet,"  although  painted  when  only  twenty-one, 
must,  nevertheless,  be  regarded  as  his  masterpiece. 
His  four  years  older  townsman  Hendrik  Golt- 
zius  ( 1 558-1616)  devoted  himself  for  many  years 
to  drawing  and  engraving,  and  is  considered  to  be 
the  only  successor  to  Lukas  van  Leiden  and  Diirer. 
Over  300  of  his  prints  are  kept  in  portfolio.  They 
are  of  sure  draughtsmanship  and  full  of  sentiment. 
Some  of  his  beautiful  portraits  in  black  and  red 
crayon  are  found  in  the  Museum  Fodor  in  Amster- 
dam. He  troubled  himself  little  with  the  outside 
world  and  served  his  art  with  his  whole  soul.  Nor 
was  he  apologetic  about  his  profession,  for  when 
a  merchant  chided  him  for  desiring  to  make  as 
much  money  with  his  art  as  he  with  his  trade,  the 
artist  proudly  retorted  that  there  was  no  analogy 
between  art  and  trade,  because  money  could  make 
a  merchant  but  never  an  artist.  Not  until  his  forty- 
second  year  did  he  turn  to  painting,  unfortunately 
imitating  Michael  Angelo,  whom  he  had  visited  in 
Rome.  Hence  the  few  paintings  which  he  left, 
some  preserved  in  Amsterdam  and  elsewhere,  are 
mythological  subjects  in  the  Italian's  style. 

With  another  townsman,  Hendrik  Cornelissen 
Vroom  (1566-1640),  appears  the  first  one  of  the 
Dutch  marine  painters.  He  was  a  wanderer  who 
left  his  early  porcelain  painting  to  see  the  world. 
Only  his  "  Leicester's  Arrival  at  Flushing,"  which 


JSetore  IRembran^t  37 

early  records  declare  his  masterpiece,  is  left  us  in 
the  Haarlem  museum.  Jan  Willaerts  (1577-?)  of 
Utrecht  was  another  marine  painter,  whose  battle 
scene  of  Admiral  Heemskerk's  victory  of  1639, 
now  in  Haarlem,  is  very  realistic.  Joachim  Wtte- 
waal  (1566-1638),  also  of  Utrecht,  was  at  first  a 
glass  worker,  but  later  combined  painting  with 
dealing  in  hemp  and  flax.  Two  portraits,  of  him- 
self and  of  his  wife,  are  in  "  Kunstliefde,"  Utrecht. 
Of  Abraham  Bloemaert  (1564-1651)  The  Hague 
and  Utrecht  have  each  a  painting  which  show  him 
more  affected  and  stilted.  He  rarely  painted  from 
life,  under  the  impression  that  his  imagination  and 
invention  would  produce  better  results.  His  eldest 
son,  Hendrik  (1601-1672)  followed  entirely  his 
father's  technic  but  turned  more  to  nature  for  in- 
spiration. ^ 

Abraham  was  the  antithesis  of  his  Delft  contem- 
porary Michiel  Jansen  Mierevelt  (i 567-1646),  who 
devoted  himself  exclusively  to  portraiture,  in  which 
he  became  greatly  renowned.  With  him  the  golden 
era  of  the  17th  century  school  dawned  on  Holland. 
He  and  Moreelse,  Ravesteyn,  Hals,  and  others  con- 
tributed to  the  lustre  of  that  century.  They  must, 
however,  be  placed  among  the  predecessors  of 
Rembrandt  because  they  commenced  to  work  a 
decade  and  more  before  the  great  master  appeared ; 
and  principally  because  they  were  not  so  much,  if 


38   XCbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  -Wetberlan^  Galleries 

at  all,  influenced  by  that  overpowering  genius. 
But  to  return  to  Mierevelt.  His  portraits  excel  in 
simplicity  and  truthfulness,  and  are  full  of  char- 
acter. A  large  number  are  still  left,  of  which  the 
Dutch  museums  have  their  share.  His  son  Pieter 
(1596- 1 623),  also  a  portrait  painter,  executed  the 
"  Anatomy  Lesson,"  now  in  the  hospital  at  Delft, 
after  the  design  drawn  by  his  father,  which  is 
considered  only  second  to  Rembrandt's.  He  died 
when  only  twenty-seven,  and  little  remains  of  his 
work. 

Another  pupil  of  the  elder  Mierevelt  was  Paulus 
Moreelse  (i 571 -1638),  who  after  a  short  stay  in 
Rome,  where  he  devoted  himself  to  historical  paint- 
ing, returned  to  his  native  Utrecht  and  became 
entirely  occupied  with  portraiture.  His  work  does 
not  come  quite  up  to  the  mark  of  his  master,  as 
his  expression  is  often  thin  and  flat,  and  his  colour 
coarse  and  cold.  Unfortunately  we  have  lost  in 
the  fire  of  Boymans  museum  no  less  than  six  of 
his  seven  portrait  examples,  among  these  his  mas- 
terpiece, the  life-size  portrait  of  Admiral  Jan  Pie- 
tersz.  Coen.  A  portrait  of  a  Lady  has  since  been 
given  to  the  Rotterdam  museum.  Amsterdam  and 
Utrecht  show  examples. 

Higher  than  Mierevelt  or  Moreelse  stands  a  third 
portrait  painter,  Jan  van  Ravesteyn  (1572-1657), 
whose    portraits    and    militia    pieces    show    even 


JSetore  TRembrant)t  39 

stronger  features  of  vitality,  unconscious  arrange- 
ment, and  in  colour  anticipating  Rembrandt's 
golden  brown.  Ravesteyn  may  be  called  the  first 
who  gave  an  historical  character  to  the  guild  and 
militia  groups.  I  might  note  here  another  reason 
why  these  men,  down  to  Frans  Hals,  should  be 
placed  among  the  precursors  of  Rembrandt.  It  is 
found  in  the  different  management  of  light.  With 
Rembrandt  the  new  expression  of  light-effects,  the 
dominance  of  chiaroscuro,  may  be  hailed  as  a  dis- 
covery. These  men  still  continued  the  even  light- 
ing of  their  figures,  preferring,  as  Vosmaer  ex- 
pressed it,  "  the  clearness  of  history  to  the  sparkle 
of  poetry."  We  will  see  that  van  der  Heist,  al- 
though Rembrandt's  pupil,  preferred  this  method 
of  even  lighting  to  that  of  his  master. 

The  St.  Lukas  Guild  of  Haarlem  had  become 
renowned  for  its  members,  among  whom  we  count 
Pieter  Soutman  (1580-1657),  who  early  left  his 
native  place  to  study  with  Rubens.  On  his  return 
he  became  so  sought  after  for  his  portrait  work 
that  he  could  with  difficulty  fulfil  all  his  commis- 
sions, so  that  he  was  not  able  until  1642  and  '44 
to  complete  the  "  Officers'  Reunions,"  which  are 
in  the  Haarlem  museum.  Another  Haarlem  mem- 
ber was  Frans  Pietersz.  Grebber  (1573-1649),  who 
painted  several  corps-de-gardes,  and  whose  son 
Pieter   (1590-?),  who  called  himself  de  Grebber, 


40   Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  Betberlant)  Gallertes 

showed  to  a  greater  extent  the  southern  influences 
of  RubenSj  with  whom  he  had  worked,  as  evidenced 
in  his  "  Barbarossa  and  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusa- 
lem." 

In  Amsterdam  there  was  at  this  time  a  painter 
who  turned  away  from  the  independent  course  of 
Dutch  art  and  from  its  inherent  strength  of  na- 
tional character.  Pieter  Lastman  (1583- 1633) 
journeyed  as  "  A  young  man  of  great  expectation 
for  art "  to  Italy,  where  he  was  greatly  attracted 
to  Caravaggio  for  colour  and  light  effects,  and  to 
Adam  Elsheimer  for  his  attractive  manner  of 
brushing  and  mythological  subjects.  Lastman  ap- 
plied these  traits  in  the  scriptural  selections  by  him, 
now  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  Rembrandt  received 
from  him  his  only  glimpse  of  Italian  art  during 
the  six  months  he  was  in  Lastman's  studio. 

Another  pupil  of  Elsheimer,  Comelis  van  Poe- 
lenburg  (1586- 1667)  remained  faithful  to  his  mas- 
ter to  the  end.  Of  graceful  style,  his  attractive 
little  panels  fell  greatly  to  the  taste  of  his  public. 
His  small  cabinet  pieces  are  spread  far  and  wide, 
but  not  in  the  Netherland  galleries,  for  only  two 
are  found  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  His  work  was 
dainty,  beautiful  in  line,  clear  and  tender  in  light 
effect,  but  giving  more  or  less  the  impression  of 
effeminacy. 

Only  a  few  artists  of  this  period  remain  who 


'  s 


before  lRembrant)t  41 

sought  their  training  in  Italy.  Gerard  van  Hon- 
thorst  (1590-1656)  followed  more  Caravaggio's 
stronger  touch  than  Elsheimer's  finer  brush.  Ow- 
ing to  the  strong  light-contrasts  of  his  night  pieces, 
whereof  his  "  Soldier  "  in  Rotterdam  is  an  excel- 
lent example,  he  was  called  Gerardo  delta  notte. 
His  paintings  in  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague  show 
the  wide  range  of  his  talents.  Born  in  Utrecht,  he 
settled  there  on  his  return  to  the  fatherland,  but 
made  frequent  visits  to  other  places,  even  to  Eng- 
land, where  several  canvases  remain.  With  a  dif- 
ferent early  training  he  might  have  attained  to  far 
greater  eminence.  One  feels  in  his  work  how  his 
inherent  broad,  forceful  manner  was  handicapped 
by  academic  rules  which  he  could  not  or  would  not 
shake  off.  His  portraits  especially  are  cold  and 
thin.  Of  Leonard  Bramer  (1595-1674)  the  Ryks- 
museum  possesses  the  only  example  in  the  Nether- 
land  Galleries.  His  method  of  juxtaposing  light 
and  shade  are  in  Elsheimer's  manner. 

Roeland  Savery  (1576-1639),  although  bom  in 
the  Southland,  spent  his  best  working  years  in 
Utrecht  after  161 3.  He  was  inspired  by  the  Tyro- 
ler  Alps,  but  is  somewhat  artificial  and  cold  in 
his  work.  A  few  mythological  subjects  from  his 
brush  are  to  be  seen  in  different  collections.  David 
Vinckbooms   (1578- 1629)   was  another  immigrant 


43    Ubc  art  ot  tbe  Tletberlanb  Galleries 

from  the  South,  who  lived  most  of  his  life  in  Am- 
sterdam, and  painted  in  Savery's  style. 

Joris  van  Schooten  ( 1587- 1 651),  born  in  Ley- 
den,  had  been  prevented  by  his  parents  from  trav- 
elling, and  quietly  remained  his  whole  life  as  an 
honourable  householder  in  his  native  city.  His 
work  shows  this  lack  of  wider  views.  In  his  por- 
trait work,  seen  in  Lakenhal,  the  figures  stand 
alone,  without  any  cohesion  or  relation.  Little  is 
known  of  his  private  life,  nor  of  some  other  paint- 
ers who  must  be  classed  in  this  period.  These  are 
Comelis  van  der  Voort  (1576-1624),  Jan  Pinas 
(1583-1631),  Jacob  Lyon  (1587-1658),  Jan  Lys 
(who  died  in  1629),  Adriaen  van  Nieuwland 
(1587- 1 658),  all  of  Amsterdam,  who  are  repre- 
sented in  various  galleries  with  portrait  groups  or 
other  subjects,  some  showing  foreign  influences. 

The  closing  figure  of  this  period  "  before  Rem- 
brandt "  now  looms  up  with  significant  force.  His 
is  the  honour  to  add  the  greatest  glory  to  the  17th 
century  school  of  Dutch  art  next  to  the  "  King 
of  painters."  Preceding  Rembrandt  in  birth  by 
fifteen  years,  and  never  swerving  from  his  own 
individual  genius,  we  must  accord  him  the  place 
of  the  master  who  has  brought  portrait  painting 
to  an  eminence  which  has  never  been  surpassed, 
even  by  Rembrandt,  and  who  vies  in  this  with 
Velasquez  for  the  crown  of  supremacy. 


JSetore  IRembranDt  43 

Frans  Hals  (1584- 1666)  came  from  an  old 
burgher  family  of  Haarlem,  the  archives  mention- 
ing the  family  name  for  two  centuries  before  his 
birth.  Through  the  stress  of  the  times  his  parents 
had  left  the  city  some  time  after  it  was  taken  by 
the  Spaniards,  and  Frans  was  born  while  they  were 
in  exile  in  Antwerp.  Little  is  known  of  his  early 
years.  Since  the  family  returned  to  Haarlem  when 
Frans  was  about  twenty  years,  he  may  have  re- 
ceived some  training  in  the  rudiments  of  his  art 
in  the  Flemish  city.  Not  a  trace  of  this  is  visible, 
not  even  in  his  first  known  work,  dated  16 14,  a 
portrait  of  Johannes  Bogardus.  It  is,  however, 
more  plausible  to  assume  that  these  early  years 
were  practically  wasted,  that  the  unsettled  condi- 
tion of  the  family  as  refugees,  constantly  waiting 
to  return  home,  had  its  effect  on  the  young  man 
in  preventing  him  to  prepare  himself  for  any  life- 
work,  and  that  evil  associations  may  have  led  him 
into  habits  which  later  developed  to  a  regretful 
irregularity  of  life.  It  is  more  likely  that  his  nat- 
ural bent  was  only  heeded  when,  on  their  return 
to  Haarlem,  Frans  entered  the  studio  of  Karel  van 
Mander,  a  mediocre  painter  who  occupied  himself 
also  with  writing  on  Art. 

The  work  of  Hals  of  his  first  ten  years  is  en- 
tirely lost.  It  must  have  been  of  brilliant  promise, 
for  in  16 1 6  he  had  received  already  the  important 


44    XTbc  Hrt  or  tbe  1aetbcrlan^  aallcrics 

commission  to  paint  "  The  Twelve  Officers  of  the 
Archers  of  Saint  George,"  now  in  the  Haarlem 
museum.  It  shows  thus  early  the  mastery  of  his 
craft,  and  those  individual  traits  only  to  be  found 
with  one  who  was  born  great.  The  same  year  we 
find  him  summoned  before  the  magistrates  on  the 
charge  of  "  mishandling  "  his  wife,  whom  he  had 
married  some  six  years  before.  His  drunken  hab- 
its were  the  basis  of  the  reprimand  he  received. 
His  wife  died  soon  afterwards,  and  he  found  a 
more  congenial  companion  in  his  second  venture 
into  matrimony  with  Lysbeth  Reyniers.  Since 
they  lived  together  for  nearly  fifty  years  we  must 
suppose  that  she  made  allowance  for  his  habits  and 
tactfully  restrained  him  from  too  many  excesses. 
There  seems  to  be  perfect  good-fellowship  between 
them  in  that  portrait  of  himself  and  Lysbeth  which 
hangs  in  the  Ryksmuseum. 

The  accounts  of  his  dissolute  ways  are  as  usual 
much  exaggerated.  That  Hals  was  intemperate 
and  improvident  must  be  conceded,  but  no  mere 
wine-bibbing  sot,  as  he  has  been  called,  could  have 
been  granted  association  with  the  best  citizens  of 
his  town,  nor  could  he  have  produced  the  master- 
works  which  have  raised  their  author  on  such  a 
high  pedestal  in  the  hall  of  fame.  Unfortunately 
his  art  soon  lost  its  hold  upon  the  people,  and  al- 
though Hals  received  commissions  to  the  last,  these 


JSetore  1Rcmbran&t  4s 

were  ill-paid,  and  this,  coupled  with  his  manner  of 
life,  brought  him  into  dire  financial  straits.  The 
city  council  provided  for  him,  from  1662  to  his 
death,  with  a  pension  of  two  hundred  Carolus 
guilders,  a  considerable  sum  for  these  times. 

While  Rembrandt  surpassed  Hals  only  in  one 
respect  —  in  the  romanticism  of  his  light-effects 
—  Hals  was  his  equal  in  every  quality  which  goes 
to  make  a  master  of  masters.  No  man  has  ever 
surpassed  the  Haarlem  genius  as  a  technician.  The 
manner  of  painting,  like  execution  in  music,  is  of 
the  greatest  importance.  The  manner  of  Hals  was 
bold,  imperial,  its  power  subdued  and  graded  ac- 
cording to  the  importance  of  the  parts;  but  above 
all  of  an  ease  and  assurance,  without  correction  or 
emendation,  that  verges  on  the  miraculous.  There 
was  progress  even  in  his  magical  touch,  whereby 
the  sparkling  virtuosity  of  his  earlier  years  devel- 
oped towards  greater  refinement,  harmony,  and 
sobriety  in  his  latest  paintings,  expressing  himself 
ever  more  concisely  and  yet  more  clearly. 

The  vitality,  the  frankly  human  side  of  his  por- 
traits, strike  us  because  the  character  of  his  sitters 
has  been  apparently  recognized  without  searching, 
keenly  caught  on  the  self-revealing  instant,  and 
transmitted  to  the  canvas  so  that  it  pulsates  with 
life  —  life  itself.  Yet,  no  vulgar  trickery  for  illu- 
sionary  deceit  —  anything  but  that.     His  work  is 


46    XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbc  'Hetberlan&  (Ballertes 

frankly  painting.  His  portrait  is  a  painted  man 
or  woman.  But  herein  becomes  Hals  the  superior 
of  all  rivals,  the  inimitable  marvel  that,  while  we 
see  his  broad  dabs  and  dashes  and  count  the  strokes 
that  go  to  make  mustachios  or  beard  —  still  the 
person  appears  in  his  ego,  with  the  laugh  or  smile 
that  reveals  the  soul.  -^ 

Nor  is  he  a  whit  less  wonderful  in  his  composi- 
tion, another  important  factor  in  painting.  Every 
writer  on  Hals,  as  far  as  I  know,  has  regarded 
composition  as  his  weakest  point.  Unjustly  so. 
Composition  is  not  only  the  arrangement  of  sub- 
ordinate parts  towards  one  focal  centre.  It  may 
also  mean  the  arrangement  of  various  parts,  which 
by  equal  lighting  have  become  of  equal  importance, 
in  such  a  manner  that,  when  viewed  at  the  distance 
when  the  whole  may  be  seen  at  one  glance,  there 
is  a  perfect  equilibrium,  a  graceful  arrangement  of 
the  primary  spots  to  an  amalgamated  and  unified 
whole.  In  this  manner  of  composition  Hals  was 
supreme.  Look  at  his  archers  pieces  in  Haarlem. 
True,  each  individual  could  be  taken  out  and  stud- 
ied in  detail,  yet  each  is  needed  in  the  combination. 
And  these  men  did  not  just  happen  to  stand  and 
sit  and  act  the  way  they  do  —  it  only  seems  so. 
The  artist  arranged  and  composed  them,  and  the 
artlessness  of  his  seemingly  unconscious  grouping 
reveals  "  the  art  that  hides  art."     Even  with  his 


^Before  IRembranDt  47 

lack  of  aerial  perspective,  whereby  all  figures  of 
his  group  pieces  seem  to  be  principal,  their  co-re- 
lation, their  harmonious  arrangement,  and  the  sub- 
jection or  elaboration  of  detail  create  what  in  music 
is  called  melody. 

And  his  colour  is  supreme.  He  touched  a  rich 
and  ever  more  mellow  palette  with  his  brush  as  with 
a  magician's  wand,  and  improvised,  created  his  chro- 
matic scale  with  subtle  intensity.  How  colour  can 
speak  he  showed  in  his  flat  painting,  from  which 
Manet  and  Whistler  drew  their  inspiration.  How 
colour  can  model,  aye  sculpture,  he  showed  in  his 
tones  and  values.  Here  he  dashes  a  full-loaded 
brush,  there  he  flows  his  colour  in  smooth  tints 
along  the  folds  of  gown  or  collaret,  but  always  with 
a  superb  freedom  and  breadth  that  is  kept  perfectly 
in  control  and  subordinates  his  richest  masses  with 
the  greatest  delicacy  to  the  flesh  tones.  His  colour 
has  never  that  mosaic  or  marquetry  look  of  his 
modern  imitators. 

His  lighting  is  uniform  and  evenly  distributed, 
a  subdued  daylight  that  did  not  affect  the  harmoni- 
ous assertion  of  each  shade.  Only  for  a  few  years, 
between  1635  and  1642,  he  seems  to  have  been 
somewhat  under  Rembrandt's  influence,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  group  piece  in  Haarlem,  painted  in 
1641,  and  in  "The  Lean  Company"  in  the  Ryks- 
museum.     He  only  experimented,  however,  during 


48    Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  •Hetberlan&  Oalleries 

these  years  with  the  new  idea  of  chiaroscuro,  for 
the  archers  piece  of  St.  Joris,  painted  in  1639,  has 
no  Rembrandtesque  qualities.  To  the  end  he  ad- 
hered to  his  own  conception  of  the  hght  problem, 
which  ignored  the  p>ossibilities  of  strong  contrast, 
and  he  was  satisfied  to  use  light,  well  tempered  and 
diffused.  3 

The  narrowness  of  his  field  of  labour,  which 
confined  itself  exclusively  to  portraiture,  including 
the  portraits  of  types,  as  "  The  Jolly  Man,"  "  Hille 
Hobbe"  (in  Berlin),  and  "The  Jester,"  was  of 
his  own  choice.  He  did  not  lack  imagination  to 
produce  genre,  so  called.  But  his  time  was  suf- 
ficiently occupied  with  the  commissions  that  came 
to  him  to  satisfy  the  good-natured  bohemian,  not 
burdened  with  any  overweaning  anxiety  to  drain 
his  vitality  by  excessive  labour.  If  rest  is  the  means 
to  recuperate  strength,  he  must  have  rested  a  great 
deal  to  enable  him  to  keep  on  working  with  scarcely 
diminishing  power  until  past  eighty. 

The  neglect  in  which  he  fell  during  his  later  years 
continued  for  generations,  when  he  was  scarcely 
deemed  worthy  of  honour.  His  paintings  even  to 
within  fifty  years  ago  could  be  bought  for  a  song. 
As  late  as  1852  the  "  Portrait  of  Himself  and 
Wife"  in  the  Ryksmuseum  brought  at  the  Six 
van  Hillegom  Sale  only  $240.  But  then  the  tide 
turned.     Public  recognition  has  now  accorded  him 


Before  lRembran&t  49 

his  true  place  among  the  foremost  painters  of  the 
world,  one  who  justly  fills  the  second  place  in  the 
glorious  galaxy  of  the  Masters  of  the  17th  Century 
Dutch  School. 


CHAPTER    III 

REMBRANDT 

The  "  King  of  Painters  "  stands  supreme  in  the 
School  of  the  Netherlands,  excelled  by  none, 
equalled  by  only  a  few  of  the  masters  of  other 
times  and  countries.  He  was  one  of  the  heroes  of 
Art,  a  genius,  at  once  Dutch  and  universal,  belong- 
ing to  the  19th  as  to  the  17th  century. 

The  prodigality  of  his  power  was  developed  by 
painful  study  and  the  laborious  acquisition  of 
knowledge.  He  was  always  keen  to  know  what 
men  had  done  before  him,  as  we  may  see  from  his 
large  collection  of  the  drawings  of  Diirer,  Cranach, 
Lukas  van  Leiden,  Marc  Antonio,  Mantegna,  and 
others,  which  he  bought  for  use  as  well  as  for  the 
love  of  beautiful  things.  And  he  profited  by  their 
teaching,  as  evidenced  in  some  of  his  works,  paint- 
ings and  etchings.  But  after  acquiring  knowledge 
he  trifled  with  it  afterwards  and  became  the  most 
original  of  painters,  creating  out  of  all  the  technics 
available  to  him  one  peculiarly  his  own. 

so 


IRembran^t  si 

While  he  was  not  the  first  to  enter  into  the  secret 
of  the  marvellous  effect  of  light  and  shade  —  for 
some  of  his  forerunners  had  already  essayed  this 
problem  of  chiaroscuro,  as  we  have  seen  in  the 
previous  chapter  —  Rembrandt  was  the  first  to  de- 
velop to  perfection  the  concentration  of  light  and 
the  diffusion  of  luminosity  from  the  deepest  shade. 
In  this  he  became  the  inspirer,  not  only  of  his  pupils 
and  of  his  contemporaries,  but  of  all  pictorial  art 
that  came  after.  His  method  became  a  new  direc- 
tion in  art  expression  and  must  be  regarded  the 
characteristic  feature  of  the  Dutch  school  as  it  now 
gradually  developed.  These  painters  were  the  first 
and  always  remained  the  foremost  to  depict  "  the 
poetry  of  chiaroscuro." 

Rembrandt's  life  (1606-1669),  like  his  pictures, 
shows  strong  contrasts  of  light  and  shadow,  with 
the  dark  predominating;  for  which  his  early  biog- 
raphers would  hold  himself  mainly  responsible.  It 
is  amazing  that  in  the  light  of  recent  researches 
those  old  stories  to  the  master's  detriment  are  still 
revamped.  The  well-known  German  author  Rich- 
ard Muther,  a  critic  of  established  reputation,  re- 
cently went  a-haying  in  his  book  "  Rembrandt,  Ein 
Kiinstlerleben,"  in  which  he  cites  many  things 
which  have  for  long  been  discarded  by  such  reliable 
biographers  as  Vosmaer,  Michel,  Neumann,  Fro- 
mentin,  and  Bode.     We  need  not  cite  any  of  the 


52   XTbe  art  of  tbe  "fletberlanD  6aUer(cs 

critical  romancings  in  which  Muther  indulges.  He 
lays,  however,  unfair  stress,  that  savours  of  ma- 
lignancy, on  Rembrandt's  private  life.  He  accuses 
him  of  having  been  a  wine-bibber,  squandering  his 
substance  in  debauchery,  and  that  later  the  copious 
wine-cup  was  replaced  by  the  gin  bottle.  Rem- 
brandt became  the  butt  of  gamins,  according  to 
Muther,  who  claims  that  Sandrart,  Rembrandt's 
contemporary,  "  saw  the  master  with  staring  eyes 
swagger  past  the  junk-shops  of  the  poor  quarter." 
Thus  speaks  a  present-day  author  who  persists  in 
perpetuating  the  slanderous  stories  spread  by  jeal- 
ous and  envious  fellow  artists,  like  Sandrart  —  an 
insignificant  painter  of  those  days  who  also  set 
himself  up  as  a  writer  and  critic,  and  whose  drivel- 
ling tales  were  further  spread  by  Houbraken,  the 
Vasari  of  the  17th  century  Dutch  school,  who,  like 
Vasari,  lent  always  a  willing  ear  to  any  stories  that 
might  come  to  him  through  studio  gossip.  The 
reports  which  he  chronicles  are  all  untrue  and  un- 
fair exaggerations  of  Rembrandt's  unpractical  hab- 
its, and  of  the  weaknesses  of  his  artist  nature, 
which,  nevertheless,  did  not  manifest  themselves 
by  that  moral  obliquity  of  which  the  master  has 
been  accused. 

It  is  fortunate  that  we  are  able  at  last  to  dis- 
card such  silly  aspersions  in  the  light  of  indisput- 
able documents  which  Dr.  Hofstede  de  Groot,  of 


IRembranbt  53 

Amsterdam,  published  last  year.  He  collected  431 
of  extracts  from  old  archives,  and  these  illuminate 
clearly  Rembrandt's  life,  if  read  in  conjunction  with 
the  psychology  of  the  master's  works.  Their  obvi- 
ous import  is  that  Rembrandt  was  a  bad  manager, 
with  a  passion  for  collecting  artistic  objects,  how- 
ever costly,  but  at  the  same  time  absorbed  in  his 
work  and  his  home,  affectionate,  and  sensitive  to 
spiritual  impressions.  This  last  may  be  seen  in  the 
serious  manner  in  which  he  treated  his  many  scrip- 
tural subjects,  notably  the  "  Christ  at  Emmaus," 
now  in  the  Louvre.  i 

Let  us  pass  to  the  indisputable  biographical  data 
as  they  may  be  collated  from  various  sources. 

Rembrandt  Harmensz.  van  Ryn  was  born  on  the 
15th  of  July,  1606,  not  in  his  father's  mill,  as  Hou- 
braken  used  to  tell,  but  in  the  comfortable  dwelling 
in  the  Weddesteeg  near  the  Wittepoort  of  Leyden, 
as  Vosmaer  has  discovered.  His  parents,  Harmen 
Gerritsz.  van  Ryn  and  Neeltjen  Willems  van  Zuit- 
broeck,  were  well-to-do,  and  when  young  Rem- 
brandt was  thirteen  years  old  he  was  sent  to  the 
preparatory  school  (now  called  the  Gymnasium) 
of  the  Leyden  University.  But  the  youth  did  not 
take  kindly  to  classical  studies  —  in  fact  he  never 
was  much  of  a  reader  except  of  his  Bible.  In  the 
inventory  of  his  possessions,  taken  in  after  life, 
besides  this  well-worn  Bible,  only  fifteen  books  are 
noted. 


54   "Q^be  Hrt  ot  tbe  'Hetberlanb  Gallertes 

His  artistic  bent  found  training  in  the  studio 
of  Jacob  van  Swanenburgh,  a  local  painter  of  whom 
little  else  is  known,  where  for  three  years  he  learned 
the  elements  of  his  profession.  At  the  age  of  sev- 
enteen we  find  him  in  Amsterdam  with  Pieter  Last- 
man,  who  had  studied  in  Italy  and  had  felt  the 
influence  of  Caravaggio  and  of  Elsheimer.  Some 
of  Lastman's  pictures  offer  contrasts  of  light  and 
shade  which  seem  to  foreshadow  the  great  works 
of  his  pupil.  But  Rembrandt  stayed  only  six 
months  with  this  teacher,  as  he  did  not  find  any 
advantage  to  be  gained,  his  work  then  already  out- 
stripping that  of  his  master.  He  returned  to  Ley- 
den,  and  using  the  members  of  his  family  for  mod- 
els he  equipped  himself  fully  to  accept  commissions 
for  portraits,  which  soon  came  to  him.  His  earliest 
known  picture,  a  "  Paul  in  Prison,"  now  in  the 
Stuttgart  museum,  is  dated  1627.  He  refused  to 
go  to  Italy  as  advised,  disclaiming  any  desire  to 
follow  in  the  ruts  of  his  predecessors,  and  already 
conscious  of  his  individual  power.  As  early  as 
1628  he  received  his  first  pupil,  Gerard  Dou,  a  lad 
of  fifteen. 

To  widen  the  scope  of  his  opportunities  Rem- 
brandt returned  in  1630  to  Amsterdam,  and  in  the 
next  year  completed  his  well-known  "  Simeon  in 
the  Temple,"  now  in  the  Mauritshuis,  which  at 
once  proclaimed   his   large   conception   of   compli- 


1Reml)ran^t  5S 

cated  compositions.  A  slight  change  in  the  study- 
heads  and  portraits  of  this  time  shows  that  he  had 
become  acquainted  with  the  work  of  Thomas  de 
Keyser.  His  reputation  became,  however,  fully 
established  by  that  marvellous  creation,  "  The  An- 
atomy Lesson  of  Prof.  Nicolaes  Tulp  "  —  a  won- 
derful performance  for  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
six.  Twice  before  a  scene  from  the  dissecting- 
room  had  been  attempted  for  Surgeons'  Guilds  — 
by  Aert  Pietersz.  of  Haarlem  in  1601,  and  by 
Pieter  Mierevelt  in  16 16.  Although  Rembrandt 
must  have  known  these  compositions,  his  presen- 
tation of  Prof.  Tulp's  Lesson  indicates  that  vital 
point  which  distinguishes  his  group  paintings,  guild 
or  militia  pieces,  above  like  compositions  by  all 
other  masters  of  his  time.  The  latter  present  in 
these  groups  frank  portraits,  often  leading  to  divi- 
sion of  interest,  no  matter  how  skilfully  arranged, 
the  portraiture  being  the  primary  motive.  With 
Rembrandt  we  always  find,  together  with  the  por- 
traiture, a  vital  scenic  presentation  in  which  all 
members  bear  an  harmonious  part. 

Rembrandt  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  Amsterdam 
with  Hendrik  van  Uylenborch,  a  painter  and  dealer 
in  works  of  art,  where  that  passion  of  collecting 
was  aroused  which  was  to  be  the  cause  of  all  Rem- 
brandt's financial  misfortunes  in  after  life.  There 
he  met  van  Uylenborch's  cousin,  Saskia,  a  young 


56   Zbc  Hrt  ot  tbc  "WetberlanC)  <5alleries 

Frieslander,  an  orphan  who  was  temporarily  stay- 
ing with  another  relative,  Dominee  Sylvius.  In 
June,  1634,  they  were  married  and  the  happiest 
years  of  the  painter's  life  followed.  There  were 
no  clouds  on  the  horizon.  His  income  was  large 
for  those  times.  He  was  a  most  industrious 
worker,  then  painting  forty  pictures  in  a  year. 
For  his  half-length  portraits  he  received  five  hun- 
dred guilders,  for  his  scriptural  subjects  as  much 
as  1,200  guilders.  For  the  "  Night  Watch  "  he 
was  paid  1,600  guilders.  In  those  years  of  his 
married  life  his  annual  income  must  have  been 
from  12,000  to  15,000  guilders,  which  would  be 
equalled  at  the  present  day  with  25,000  to  30,000 
dollars.  To  this  must  be  added  Saskia's  dowry  of 
40,000  giiilders,  and  various  legacies  from  his 
mother  and  from  several  of  Saskia's  relatives. 
But  that  he  lived  freely  is  shown  when  at  Saskia's 
death,  after  eight  years,  their  joint  property 
amounted  to  only  40,750  guilders,  his  possessions 
consisting  principally  of  jewelry,  art  objects,  and 
collections  of  drawing  and  engravings.  The  house 
in  which  they  had  moved  on  the  St.  Antonie  Bree- 
straat  *  was  not  paid  for,  and  various  sums  of  bor- 
rowed money,  carelessly  neglected  by  the  artist  for 

*  This  house  was  acquired  by  the  City  of  Amsterdam  during  the 
celebration  of  the  tercentenary  of  Rembrandt's  birth  in  1906,  and 
has  been  restored  to  the  condition  it  was  in  when  Rembrandt  occu- 
pied it,  serving  as  a  memorial  museum. 


lRembran^t  57 

the  sake  of  adding  to  his  collections,  ominously 
foreshadowed  the  dire  fatality. 

During  these  happy  years  the  master's  work  is 
signalized  by  its  richness  of  colour,  the  dramatic 
action  of  the  figures,  and  the  perfection  of  his  light 
painting.  From  1633  to  1639  he  completed  the 
"  Passion  Series,"  the  various  Saskia  portraits,  and 
several  of  himself,  the  "  Samson  Propounding  the 
Riddle  at  the  Wedding  Feast,"  in  Dresden,  "  The 
Good  Samaritan  "  of  the  Louvre.  In  i640-'42,  the 
last  of  these  joyful  years  of  his  wedded  life,  he 
wrought  several  magnificent  portraits,  notably 
"  The  Gilder,"  a  portrait  of  Paulus  Doomer,  which 
is  now  in  the  Havemeyer  collection  of  New  York, 
and  the  "  Night  Watch."  These  were  also  the 
years  of  greatest  popularity,  when  the  leading  citi- 
zens of  Amsterdam  vied  with  each  other  to  receive 
him.  Among  his  friends  were  counted  the  Sec- 
retary of  the  Stadhouder,  Constantin  Huygens,  a 
poet  and  scientist;  the  Mennonite  preacher  Renier 
Anslo;  the  Rabbi  Manasseh  ben  Israel;  the  Bur- 
gomaster Jan  Six,  who  received  him  frequently  at 
his  country  seat  at  Hillegom;  the  Collector  of 
Revenue  Uyttenbogaert ;  the  goldsmith  Janus  Lu- 
tina;  the  Burgomaster  Cornelis  Witzen,  and  many 
others. 

Three  children  Saskia  bore  him  died  in  infancy, 
but  in  September,  1641,  Titus  was  born,  who  lived 


58    Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  'Ketbcrlant)  Galleries 

to  manhood.  The  thirty-year  old  mother,  how- 
ever, died  the  next  Summermonth,  and  with  her 
departed  all  Rembrandt's  joy  of  life.  Saskia  in 
her  will  left  all  her  property  to  Titus,  subject  to 
Rembrandt's  use  during  his  life  or  so  long  as  he 
remained  unmarried.  Why  Saskia  made  this  pe- 
culiar provision,  which  was  not  altogether  custom- 
ary in  those  times,  we  know  not.  But  it  had  a  por- 
tentous bearing  and  proved  of  serious  consequences 
later  on.  Rembrandt,  in  his  sorrow,  devoted  him- 
self exclusively  to  his  art.  Many  of  his  most  beau- 
tiful scriptural  subjects,  with  spiritual  depth,  date 
from  these  years.  He  also  added  landscape  to  the 
subjects  of  his  painting  and  etching. 

The  years  which  followed,  from  1642  until  the 
time  when  Rembrandt  was  declared  a  bankrupt  in 
1656,  have  furnished  most  of  the  tales  derogatory 
to  his  character.  It  must,  however,  be  borne  in 
mind  that  with  all  the  moral  correctness  of  public 
opinion  as  to  social  doings,  the  friends  I  have  enu- 
merated above  did  not  forsake  him,  many  helping 
him  financially  to  stave  ofT  the  insolvency  proceed- 
ings. The  Six  family,  then  one  of  the  most  prom- 
inent in  Amsterdam,  always  remained  loyal  to  him, 
for  the  famous  portrait  of  Jan  Six  must,  accord- 
ing to  Vosmaer,  be  placed  in  1656,  or  according 
to  Michel  and  Bode  in  1660  (Smith's  Catalogue 
Raisonne  places  it  in  1644,  which,  judging  by  its 


1Rcml>ran&t  S9 

colour  and  technic,  is  erroneous).  These  friends 
would  not  have  remained  with  him  had  there  been 
any  truth  in  the  tales  which  are  to  this  day  mon- 
gered.  Something  occurred  in  1649  which  tested 
their  loyalty  and  which  is  the  basis  of  many  of  the 
evil  reports. 

When  Saskia  died,  leaving  him  with  the  few 
months  old  babe,  Rembrandt  had  as  housekeeper 
in  his  large  house  in  the  Breestraat  a  woman  of 
uncertain  temper,  Geertge  Dirx,  the  widow  of  a 
trumpeter.  She  must  have  been  warmly  attached 
to  young  Titus,  for  in  1648  she  made  her  will  in 
favour  of  her  charge.  But  in  the  following  year 
she  left  Rembrandt's  service,  most  probably  on 
account  of  jealousy  of  Hendrickje  Stoffels.  This 
young  woman  had  some  time  before  come  as  her 
assistant  in  Rembrandt's  household.  We  know  her 
features  well  from  various  portraits  the  master 
painted.  These  features  are  pleasant,  with  gentle 
eyes,  and  a  modest  womanliness  of  character. 
After  Geertge  Dirx  left  the  house  Rembrandt  de- 
sired to  protect  his  child  Titus  as  to  the  disposition 
she  had  made  of  her  property,  and  voluntarily  set- 
tled an  annuity  of  60  guilders  on  her,  paying  her 
also  150  guilders  in  hand,  on  condition  that  she 
should  not  alter  her  will.  It  was  an  unwise  move 
as  to  further  developments,  for  the  woman  shortly 
afterwards  accused  him  of  illicit  intercourse  with 


6o   XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  iRetberlant)  Galleries 

her  and  of  a  breach  of  promise  to  marry.  Rem- 
brandt stoutly  denied  the  accusation,  but  his  volun- 
tary pecuniary  settlement  upon  her  weighed  against 
him  before  the  "  Commissionaries  of  Marriage  Af- 
fairs," and  they  condemned  the  painter  to  pay 
Geertge  200  guilders  instead  of  60  guilders  per 
annum.  The  indignation  of  the  master  knew  no 
bounds,  and  in  his  passionate  resentment  of  the 
injustice  done  him  he  assumed  the  very  relations 
with  Hendrickje  Stofifels  of  which  he  had  been  un- 
justly accused  by  Geertge.  Unjustly,  for  Geertge's 
unreliability  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  she  had  to  be  placed  in  a  madhouse 
at  Gouda,  where  she  died  shortly  afterwards. 

Rembrandt's  relations  with  Hendrickje  must 
have  been  sufficiently  discreet  not  to  arouse  the 
estrangement  of  his  friends,  while  much  later,  in 
his  declining  years,  they  were  regarded  by  their 
neighbours  on  the  Rozengracht  as  lawfully  wedded, 
and  Titus  always  treated  her  with  affection  as  his 
second  mother.  No  record  of  a  marriage  is,  how- 
ever, in  existence.  That  Hendrickje  was  con- 
strained by  a  sincere  love  for  the  master  may  be 
seen  in  her  faithful  care  for  him  to  the  time  of  her 
death,  and  in  the  public  reproach  she  was  willing 
to  bear,  when  in  1654  she  was  three  times  cited  to 
appear  before  the  Church  Council  for  living  incon- 
tinently with  Rembrandt,  was  publicly  reproved. 


•Kembranbt  6i 

and  excluded  from  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. It  is  here  to  be  noted  that  Rembrandt  was 
also  cited,  but  only  the  first  time  and  apparently 
by  mistake,  so  that  we  may  presume  that  he  did 
not  belong  to  the  State  Church,  but  more  likely 
to  the  Mennonite  congregation.  A  child  by  Hen- 
drickje  was  buried  on  August  15,  1652,  but  on  Oc- 
tober 30,  1654,  another  child  was  baptized  which 
received  the  name  of  Cornelia,  after  the  master's 
mother.  Cornelia,  some  years  after  her  father's 
death,  married  a  painter  named  Suythoff,  with 
whom  she  emigrated  to  the  East  Indies,  where  in 
1678  her  first  son  was  baptized  with  the  name  of 
Rembrandt. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Rembrandt  would  have 
married  Hendrickje  had  it  not  been  for  the  clause 
in  Saskia's  will.  This  would  have  compelled  him 
to  pay  the  principal  of  her  legacy  in  full  to  the 
guardians  of  his  son  Titus.  He  was  no  longer 
able  to  do  this,  as  his  finances  were  becoming  more 
and  more  involved.  And  finally  the  storm  broke. 
Money-lenders  and  the  holder  of  the  mortgage  on 
the  Breestraat  house  became  insistent.  During 
these  years  Rembrandt  strained  all  his  powers  to 
stay  off  the  inevitable,  executing  an  unusually  large 
number  of  pictures  and  etchings,  which  include 
several  important  works,  among  others  "  Professor 
Deyman's  Anatomy  Lesson."     But  all  his  income 


62   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlanD  Galleries 

went  to  pay  the  interest  on  his  many  debts,  barely 
leaving  him  living  expenses,  and  at  last  he  was 
declared  bankrupt  in  1656;  an  inventory  was  taken, 
all  his  possessions  were  sold  for  something  under 
5,000  guilders,  and  his  house  for  11,218  gTjilders. 
It  appears  that  all  that  was  left  to  Rembrandt  were 
the  plates  of  his  etchings  and  his  painter's  mate- 
rials. After  moving  about  from  place  to  place, 
we  find  him  at  last  in  a  modest  little  house  on  the 
Rozengracht.  For  a  time  his  position  seems  to 
have  somewhat  improved.  Hendrickje  and  Titus 
formed  a  partnership  to  deal  in  works  of  art,  em- 
ploying Rembrandt  as  expert  and  adviser,  for 
which  they  were  to  give  him  board  and  lodging. 
It  was  a  disinterested  scheme  to  save  to  the  master 
some  of  his  earnings,  which  were  legally  im- 
pounded for  the  payment  of  his  ancient  debts. 
Titus  went  from  door  to  door  selling  his  father's 
etchings,  which  probably  brought  in  most  of  the 
earnings  of  the  humble  firm.  It  was  not  an  in- 
stance of  Rembrandt's  avarice,  as  Houbraken  puts 
it,  but  proof  of  the  son's  devotion  which  lightened 
the  master's  declining  years.  That  this  love  sur- 
rounding him  caused  the  flame  of  genius  to  burn 
again  brighter  we  see  in  the  marvellous  portrait 
group  of  the  "  Staalmeesters,"  the  Syndics  of  the 
Drapers'  Guild,  which  Rembrandt  painted  in  1662. 
There  is  an  old  tradition  that  Rembrandt  visited 


•Rembrandt  63 

England  in  1661,  but  the  slight  evidence  in  support 
of  this  cannot  weigh  against  the  improbability  that 
in  the  straitened  circumstances  of  that  time  he 
would  also  have  overcome  his  aversion  to  travel. 

With  the  year  1662  sorrow  came  to  him  anew. 
His  faithful  Hendrickje  Stoffels  died,  and  Titus 
alone  became  his  father's  support.  In  November, 
1665,  the  sum  of  6,950  guilders  was  finally  ad- 
justed to  Titus  out  of  the  bankruptcy  proceedings 
as  the  balance  of  his  mother's  bequest,  and  in  1667 
the  young  man  married  his  cousin  Magdalena  van 
Loo.  All  too  soon  this  happy  union  was  broken, 
for  on  the  4th  of  September,  1668,  the  grief- 
stricken  father  followed  his  son  to  the  grave.  A 
year  later,  on  October  8th,  1669,  he  himself  was 
laid  to  rest  in  the  Westerkerk. 

Rembrandt's  character  can  be  readily  traced 
from  the  documents  that  have  been  collated,  from 
the  physiognomy  of  the  portraits  of  himself,  of 
which  he  painted  a  large  number,  and  from  the 
psychology  of  the  subjects  which  he  depicts.  The 
biographical  data  which  we  have  considered  give 
us  already  an  inkling  of  his  character  —  do  we  not 
recognize,  however,  the  inner  man  more  fully  in 
the  work  he  has  produced,  especially  his  own  por- 
traits? For  in  every  great  work  of  art  we  can  see 
the  subject  passed  through  the  alembic  of  the  paint- 
er's own  soul.     When  we  look  then  at  those  vivid 


64   XTbe  Hrt  of  tbc  laetberlant)  Galleries 

heads  of  his  self-portraits,  and  are  arrested  by  the 
depth  and  poignancy  of  their  eyes,  we  reaHze  the 
bright,  clean  manliness  of  the  artist  who  stamped 
upon  these  features,  no  matter  at  what  age  he  gives 
them,  his  own  nobility.  That  same  spirit  emanates 
from  all  the  portraits  he  painted.  In  his  deep  sym- 
pathy with  sheer  humanity  he  paints  burgher  or 
boor,  beggar  or  burgomaster,  still  all  are  imbued 
with  his  own  never  failing  dignity  of  character. 
He  always  prefers  character  to  beauty.  His  men's 
heads  are  often  fine,  his  heads  of  old  women  ex- 
ceptionally so,  only  occasionally  a  passable  Dutch 
maiden,  while  his  squalid  Bathshebas  and  Susannas 
certainly  were  not  painted  with  any  lustful  eye,  or 
even  to  extol  the  delicacy  of  line  and  form  which 
tend  to  prettiness.  The  artist  saw  beauty  else- 
where. To  him  the  ugliness  of  features  and  hands 
and  of  the  nude  body  could  be  made  expressive 
of  beauty  as  the  vehicle  of  his  vision  of  the  action 
of  light  with  its  glints  of  surprise,  and  of  colour 
in  its  golden  harmony  of  broken  tints.  What  cared 
he  whether  others  were  pleased,  so  long  as  his  in- 
dependent mind  had  free  scope  to  create  beauty  as 
he  saw  it.  And  deep-seated  in  his  nature  was  a 
trait,  never  wholly  absent  from  any  of  his  works, 
but  especially  noticeable  in  his  biblical  composi- 
tions —  that  of  reverence.  There  is  a  serious  spirit 
felt  in  his  work,  lending  such  essential  power  to 


5  S 

5a    ■« 


1Rembrant)t  6$ 

his  creations  that  even  anachronistic  details,  or  in- 
cidents which  might  turn  the  thoughtless  to  levity, 
are  put  out  of  obtrusive  sight.  Rembrandt's  spiri- 
tual side  was  not  shaped  by  dogmatic  tenet  or 
churchly  creed.  His  intense  humanism  was  rever- 
ent before  the  divine  in  nature,  which  he  recognized 
and  worshipped. 

Every  mental  giant  sooner  or  later  becomes  the 
victim  of  diagnosis  and  analysis,  and  Rembrandt's 
individuality  has  always  been  a  tempting  subject 
for  the  dissecting  scalpel  of  the  student  of  psy- 
chology. Eugene  Fromentin,  the  only  notable 
painter  who  was  also  a  good  critic,  has  for  long 
been  regarded  the  best  commentator  on  the  Dutch 
master.  In  fact  his  penetrating,  illuminating  anal- 
ysis that  Rembrandt  was  compact  of  two  natures: 
one  the  realist,  the  other  the  idealist,  has  been  tac- 
itly accepted  by  all  that  have  come  after  him ;  even 
to  the  point  where  Fromentin  claims  that  the  whole 
secret  of  Rembrandt's  art  is  found  in  the  struggle 
between  these  natures,  which  this  otherwise  keen 
critic  asserts  "  clog,  hamper  and  embarrass  each 
other "  —  and  herein  Fromentin  is  carried  away 
by  his  specious  argument,  and  he  undoes  the  force 
of  his  analysis  and  leaves  the  problem  again  un- 
solved. Nay,  rather  this  dual  nature  of  realism 
and  idealism  was  in  supreme  harmony.  Some- 
times the  one  would   assert  itself  more  strongly, 


66   Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  TletberlanC)  ©alleries 

then  again  the  other,  but  always  supporting  each 
other.  When  the  reaHst  prevailed,  as  in  the  "  An- 
atomy Lesson,"  the  "  Syndics,"  and  most  of  his 
single  portraits,  the  idealist  would  put  in  those 
inspired  touches  of  light  play  which  raise  the  work 
to  unreached  heights;  when  the  idealist  predom- 
inates, as  in  the  "  Christ  at  Emmaus "  and  most 
of  his  scriptural  pieces  and  landscapes,  he  is  sup- 
ported by  a  realism  that  is  insistent  in  its  recog- 
nition of  the  dialect  of  the  common  people.  There 
is  not  a  single  figure  in  any  of  his  paintings,  emer- 
ging out  of  the  obscure  into  the  light  that  bathes 
it  with  a  mystic  glow,  that  is  not  at  the  same  time 
filled  with  the  sentient  humanity,  the  pathos,  joy, 
energy  of  real  life.  Were  there  conflict  there 
would  be  failure,  splendid  failure,  forsooth  —  but 
is  there  one  painting  to  be  called  such?  The 
"  Night  Watch  "  is  also  for  this  reason  the  great- 
est painting  in  the  world,  because  it  is  the  perfect, 
most  harmonious  union  of  idealism  and  realism 
ever  reached.  Rembrandt  was  a  prose-poet  —  in 
art  what  Shakespeare  was  in  literature  with  Bal- 
zac added;,  a  mighty  dreamer  who  yet  saw  the 
dim  people  of  poverty,  the  crooked  and  the  lame, 
the  wan  and  the  smiling,  the  sick  and  the  strong, 
and  counterfeited  these  with  startling  expressive- 
ness. 

A    different    problem    presents    itself    in    Rem- 


IRembranbt  67 

brandt's  manner  of  painting.  We  must  usually 
look  in  an  artist  for  development,  expansion,  a 
gradual  growth  to  fullest  fruition.  But  the  start- 
ling enigma  arises  when  we  study  Rembrandt's 
work  that  we  find  little  distinction  between  his  early 
and  latest  work.  It  is  generally  stated  that  as  time 
went  on  his  style  was  marked  by  an  increasing 
breadth  of  treatment,  that  he  passed  from  a  firm, 
somewhat  frigid  technic  to  an  amazing  boldness 
of  handling.  But  let  us  compare  the  first  and  the 
last  of  his  most  important  paintings.  In  the  "  An^- 
atomy  Lesson  "  and  the  "  Syndics  "  we  find  very 
little  difference.  There  is  the  same  individual  ag- 
gressiveness of  each  head,  the  same  smoothness, 
if  you  are  pleased  to  call  it  so.  Then  take  the  por- 
trait now  in  the  Hermitage  and  painted  in  1637, 
of  "  Jan  Sobieski,"  others  call  it  "  The  Man  with 
a  Fur  Cap,"  while  Mantz  suggests  it  to  be  a  self- 
portrait  —  compare  it  with  the  portrait  of  "  Jan 
Six,"  painted  twenty  years  later,  and  again  there 
is  the  same  broad  treatment  and  the  same  subsidi- 
ary arrangement  of  costume  enhancing  the  interest 
in  the  human  document.  And  in  his  first  composi- 
tion with  a  number  of  figures,  the  "  Simeon  in  the 
Temple,"  dated  1631,  and  painted  when  he  was 
only  twenty-five  years  old,  I  find  many  of  the  same 
wonderful  characteristics  of  the  "  Night  Watch," 
its   ingenuous   grouping,    its   dignity,   beauty   and 


68   Ube  Brt  ot  tbc  "WetberlanD  ©alleries 

vitality  of  the  characters,  and  the  same  centre  of 
light  with  its  gradations.  Just  as  we  have  in  his 
etchings  —  for  as  we  know  Rembrandt  is  also 
called  "  The  King  of  Etchers  "  —  some  broadly 
done  plates  in  his  earliest  years  and  some  delicate 
ones  towards  the  close.  These  are  facts  which 
cannot  be  explained  away,  and  which  tend  to  show 
that  Rembrandt  from  the  first  with  the  potency  of 
genius  grasped  what  by  others  must  be  learned  by 
painful  apprenticeship.  He  was  what  Michel  calls 
him,  "  an  artistic  Prometheus  who  stole  the  celes- 
tial fire."  He  moved  in  a  cycle  of  masterpieces  of 
which  the  last  was  no  more  perfect  than  the  first. 

In  one  respect,  his  essential  characteristic  of 
light,  a  development  is  to  be  noticed.  Rembrandt 
created  a  light  all  his  own,  in  its  concentration  and 
its  radiation  of  luminosity  to  the  deepest  shades. 
This  juxtaposition  of  light  and  shade,  or  chiaros- 
curo, did  not  lie  as  with  Caravaggio,  in  the  brutal 
opposing  of  livid  whites  to  opaque  blacks,  but 
rather  in  the  blending  by  imperceptible  gradations 
of  the  most  brilliant  light  with  the  deepest  shadow, 
bathed  in  an  ever  luminous  atmosphere.  And  in 
this  the  master  grew  from  first  to  last  until  Rem- 
brandt's light,  at  which  many  imitators  and  fol- 
lowers have  essayed  to  light  their  own  torches,  has 
become  the  supreme,  unmatched  product  of  this 
incomparable  genius. 


lRembran^t  69 

If  we  call  a  colourist  one  who  uses  the  gamut  of 
pigment  with  more  or  less  harmonious  abundance, 
Rembrandt  may  not  be  called  a  colourist  in  the 
sense  that  the  Venetians  excelled.  His  palette  was 
too  reserved  and  simple.  But  if  a  colourist  be  one 
whose  masses  of  hue  and  tint  are  kneaded  through 
the  figures  to  express  their  meaning;  who  uses 
colour,  not  lines,  to  draw  with  singular  vivacity 
his  solid  forms,  whose  sparkling  brush  adds  here 
and  there  a  touch  of  brilliancy  that  dazzles  —  then 
Rembrandt  need  not  stand  behind  Titian  as  a  col- 
ourist. 

It  is  the  natural  course  that  when  a  man  cannot 
be  reached,  the  puny  ones  will  try  to  pull  him  down, 
and  Rembrandt  had  many  detractors.  To  de  Lai- 
resse  Rembrandt's  paint  ran  down  his  pictures  like 
mud;  Houbraken  laments  the  unfinished  state  of 
many  of  his  pictures ;  Hoogstraten  cavils  at  less 
edifying  incidents  in  some  of  the  master's  compo- 
sitions; a  rhymester  of  his  day  deploringly  ex- 
claims :  "  Oh,  what  a  shame,  that  a  man  with  such 
talents  didn't  go  to  Italy  to  learn  how  to  paint !  " 
And  Ruskin,  in  one  of  his  bilious  moods,  announces 
that  "  Vulgarity,  dulness,  or  impiety  will  indeed 
always  express  themselves  through  art  in  brown 
and  gray,  as  in  Rembrandt."  Nor  did  his  own 
people  quite  understand  him.  Although  his  power- 
ful influence  has  been  indelibly  impressed  upon  the 


70   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  iaetberlan&  Galleries 

art  of  his  time,  there  were  many  that  questioned 
his  methods.  In  1654  he  received  75  guilders  from 
a  rich  Portuguese  Jew,  Sefior  Diego  d'Andrada,  as 
advance  payment  for  a  portrait  of  a  young  girl, 
which,  on  completion,  was  not  satisfactory  to  the 
captious  amateur.  By  notarial  act  he  notified  Rem- 
brandt to  make  the  portrait  like  the  original,  or 
return  the  money.  This  the  artist  refused  to  do 
and,  further,  demanded  satisfaction  for  the  insult. 
The  only  concession  he  would  make  was  to  allow 
the  portrait  to  be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  a 
jury  from  the  St.  Lukas  guild,  after  the  remainder 
of  the  price  should  have  been  paid.  In  case  of 
refusal  he  threatened  to  put  the  portrait  with  some 
other  pictures  at  public  sale.  The  dissatisfaction 
of  several  of  the  sixteen  persons  who  each  had 
paid  a  hundred  guilders  to  be  represented  in  the 
"  Night  Watch,"  because  they  had  not  all  been 
treated  alike,  is  in  the  chronicles.  So  even  Rem- 
brandt had  his  troubles,  like  "  The  Baronet  and  the 
Butterfly." 

More  overwhelming  evidence  of  this  inability  to 
comprehend  the  master's  art  is,  however,  found  in 
the  ease  wherewith  his  paintings  gradually  disap- 
peared from  his  native  country.  Of  the  four  hun- 
dred paintings  now  located,  Holland  possesses  less 
than  thirty,  while  Germany  has  one  hundred  and 
eight.   Great   Britain   over  ninety,   sixty  being  in 


IRcmbranDt  71 

private  collections.  In  France  there  are  fifty-eight, 
and  in  Russia  forty-four.  The  prices  at  which 
Rembrandt's  paintings  could  be  purchased  during 
the  century  after  his  death  read  like  fairy-tales, 
of  which,  for  the  curious,  I  will  relate  a  few. 

A  self-portrait  was  sold  in  1687  for  $2.40;  the 
"  Christmas  Night,"  now  hanging  in  Buckingham 
Palace,  was  sold  in  The  Hague  in  1692  for  $61. 
The  "  Christ,"  now  in  the  collection  of  A.  von 
Carstanjen  of  Berlin,  brought  at  a  sale  in  Amster- 
dam in  1694,  thirty  cents,  while  a  portrait  sold  in 
1702  for  forty  cents.  The  "  Jan  Sobieski  "  brought 
in  1707  $18.80.  The  "Raising  of  Lazarus,"  now 
in  the  Yerkes  collection  of  New  York,  brought 
$42  in  1727.  The  "  David  Playing  the  Harp  be- 
fore Saul,"  which  the  Dutch  Government  a  few 
years  ago  acquired  in  Paris  for  $40,000,  left  the 
country  in  1747  for  $21.60.  The  "Christ  at  Em- 
maus  "  of  the  Louvre  was  sold  in  the  Willem  Six 
sale,  in  1734,  in  Amsterdam  for  $68.  "Christ 
with  the  Woman  at  the  Well,"  which  was  in  the 
Rodolphe  Kann  collection  and  has  recently  come 
to  America,  was  sold  at  the  Hendrik  Trip  sale,  in 
1740  at  Amsterdam,  for  $2.25.  And  in  1749  a 
large  landscape  by  Rembrandt  could  be  purchased 
for  $1.20. 

Such  was  the  disrepute  into  which  Rembrandt 
fell,    which    posterity    has    taken    upon    itself    to 


73   Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  •Wetberlan&  Oallertes 

avenge.  Yet  we  cannot  bear  too  hardly  upon  his 
contemporaries.  Rembrandt's  art  was  too  original, 
revolutionary  almost,  to  be  easily  grasped  and 
understood.  His  art  of  manipulating  paint,  mas- 
terful in  its  attainment,  and  with  the  highest  re- 
finement, was  at  first  an  unknown  tongue.  It  spoke 
a  language  which  had  to  be  learned  to  be  under- 
stood. He  was  a  seer,  a  prophet  —  and  for  a  time 
his  voice  was  like  that  of  one  crying  in  the  wilder- 
ness. But  still  he  was  the  glory  of  his  age,  the  sun 
that  ruled  among  the  constellations. 

Truly  we  may  say  of  that  age  of  17th  century 
Dutch  art,  where  we  have  the  glorious  gold  of 
Rembrandt,  the  more  quiet  glow  and  silvery  sheen 
of  Hals,  and  the  sparkling  brilliancy  of  the  lesser 
lights  —  the  Sun,  Moon  and  Stars  were  there. 

We  will  now  tufn  to  these  lesser  lights  that  shone 
in  the  golden  era. 


CHAPTER    IV 

HIS    CONTEMPORARIES  —  THE    PORTRAIT    AND 
FIGURE   PAINTERS 

FusELY  says :  "  Resemblance,  character,  costume 
are  the  three  requisites  of  portrait  painting;  re- 
semblance distinguishes,  character  classifies,  and 
costume  assigns  place  and  time  to  an  individual." 
This  analysis  being  true,  the  Dutch  portrait  paint- 
ers of  the  17th  century  may  be  classed  among  the 
ideal  performers  of  the  craft. 

I  have  spoken  of  several  portrait  painters  who, 
although  bom  before  Rembrandt,  worked  contem- 
poraneously with  him,  but  were  for  various  rea- 
sons not  particularly  influenced  by  his  overpower- 
ing genius.  There  were  others,  also  born  some 
years  earlier,  who  in  later  life  manifested  a  decided 
reflection  of  the  master's  new  thoughts  as  to  light 
and  colour. 

The  first  of  these,  Thomas  de  Keyzer  (1597- 
1678),  holds  the  peculiar  position  of  first  arousing 
Rembrandt  to  the  possibilities  of  portraiture,  and 
afterwards  himself  adopting  several  of  the  great 

73 


74   "C^be  Hrt  of  tbe  Tletberlant)  Galleries 

master's  characteristics.  He  opened  his  career,  as 
the  younger  Mierevelt  had  done,  with  a  scene  from 
the  dissecting  room,  of  Dr.  Egberts,  but  afterwards 
devoted  himself  principally  to  portrait  painting. 
His  warm  colouring  and  truthful  characterization 
developed  gradually,  his  colour  at  the  last  approach- 
ing Rembrandt's.  Many  of  his  works  are  found 
in  foreign  museums.  The  Hague,  however,  possess- 
ing his  two  best  works. 

In  Cornelis  Janssen  van  Ceulen  (15901664)  we 
can  only  detect  Rembrandt's  influence  in  his  later 
years.  In  1618  he  went  to  England,  where  he 
remained  for  thirty  years,  being  greatly  influenced 
by  van  Dyck  to  acquire  a  certain  finesse  of  pose. 
Many  of  his  works  are  distributed  in  English  col- 
lections. After  his  return  to  Holland,  we  find  in 
his  portraits  a  happy  combination  of  van  Dyck  and 
Rembrandt,  His  method  was  simple  and  forceful, 
as  may  be  seen  in  his  magistrates  in  the  Hague 
municipal  museum.  He  is  weakest  in  his  flesh 
tones,  which  are  pallid,  the  shadows  being  a  lifeless 
gray,  nor  are  the  washy,  bluish-green,  and  brick- 
red  tints  of  his  backgrounds  always  attractive. 
The  portraits  by  Nicolas  Eliasz.  Pickenoy  (1590- 
1650),  generally  called  Nicolas  Elias,  are  credit- 
able. He  lived  a  few  doors  from  Rembrandt's 
house  on  the  St.  Antonie  Breestraat,  and  is  the 
reputed  master  of  van  der  Heist 


l)is  Contemporaries  75 

A  number  of  painters  of  less  prominence  may- 
be mentioned  whose  works  are  in  the  Netherland 
Galleries,  before  we  consider  the  pupils  of  Hals 
and  of  Rembrandt  who  attained  to  greater  renown. 
Wybrand  de  Geest  (1590-1659)  was  called  the 
Frisian  Eagle,  of  whom  it  is  only  known  that  he 
resided  for  a  long  time  in  Rome.  Dirk  Dirksz. 
Santvoort  (1610-1680)  painted  some  excellent  por- 
traits. Jan  Daemen  Cool  (i  590-1660)  made  in 
1652  application  to  the  governors  of  the  Old  Men's 
Home  in  Rotterdam  to  be  taken  as  an  inmate,  and 
he  was  received  on  condition  of  paying  1,225  guil- 
ders and  painting  a  picture.  This  painting,  rep- 
resenting the  four  governors,  is  the  only  one  of 
his  works  extant,  and  has  only  lately  been  ascribed 
to  him.  Lamme  gave  it  to  Aart  Mytens,  Burger 
to  Jakob  Backer,  while  the  catalogue  used  to  at- 
tribute it  to  Daniel  Mytens,  That  Backer  should 
have  been  considered  its  author  speaks  well  for 
the  work.  Jacob  van  der  Gracht  (1593- 1647)  was 
chiefly  known  for  the  careful  anatomical  drawings 
he  made,  although  the  Municipal  Museum  of  The 
Hague  has  a  fine  portrait  of  a  woman  by  his  brush. 
Little  is  known  also  of  the  Crabeths,  Wouter  and 
Dirk,  who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury. Their  principal  works  are  painted  windows 
in  the  church  of  Gouda.  Fine  in  composition,  they 
are  still  not  in  the  best  style  of  art  and  rather  poor 


76   Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  taetberlanb  Oallertcs 

in  colour.  Dirk  excelled  in  vigorous  touch.  Adri- 
aen  Haneman  (1611-1680)  had  been  a  pupil  of 
Ravesteyn,  and  on  arriving  in  England  became  an 
imitator  of  van  Dyck.  His  portraits  are  well 
drawn,  full  of  expression  and  agreeable  in  colour, 
yet  they  lack  the  spontaneity  of  individual  expres- 
sion. Daniel  Mytens,  the  elder,  was  born  in  The 
Hague  at  the  end  of  the  i6th  century,  and  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  England,  where  he  painted  in 
the  style  of  van  Dyck,  assuming  also  to  be  his  rival 
in  royal  favour.  He  returned  to  The  Hague,  where 
he  died  in  1656.  His  son  Jan  painted  portraits 
towards  the  end  of  the  golden  age,  one  of  Tromp, 
in  Amsterdam,  declaring  the  decadence  of  the  art. 
In  Haarlem  we  find  in  the  meantime  a  number 
of  the  pupils  of  Hals  turning  to  portraiture  with 
greater  success.  Johannes  Verspronck  (1597- 
1662)  attained  to  early  recognition.  The  Regent 
piece  in  the  Haarlem  museum,  dated  1642,  shows 
him  in  his  full  power.  His  relation  to  his  master, 
although  he  could  not  equal  him,  expresses  itself 
in  his  somewhat  gray,  but  yet  vivacious  colour 
scheme,  his  broad  treatment,  and  forceful  brush 
strokes.  In  his  later  works  one  cannot  fail  to  rec- 
ognize some  inspiration  that  had  come  to  him  from 
Amsterdam.  Although  we  cannot  be  sure  that  Jan 
de  Bray  (died  1697)  was  a  pupil,  we  still  must 
respect  the  influence  under  which   this  otherwise 


Dfs  Contemporaries  77 

unknown  artist  painted  the  corps-de-gardes  which 
we  find  in  the  Haarlem  museum.  His  brothers 
Jacob  and  Dirk  were  also  noted  in  that  time.  Pie- 
ter  van  Anraadt  (died  1681),  whose  birth  year  is 
not  known,  also  shows  unmistakable  signs  of  Hals' 
training,  which  he  applied  with  great  talent.  Caesar 
van  Everdingen  (1606- 1679)  had  come  from  Alk- 
maar  to  Haarlem,  where  he  painted  portraits  ac- 
ceptably, and  sometimes  subjects  like  the  one  in 
The  Hague. 

One  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Dutch  por- 
trait painters,  Bartholomeus  van  der  Heist  (1613- 
1670),  was  bom  in  Haarlem,  where  he  spent  his 
early  years,  also  in  the  studio  of  Frans  Hals,  but 
soon  removing  to  Amsterdam  to  continue  under 
Elias  and  Rembrandt,  where  he  died,  loaded  with 
honours.  His  art  was  popular,  as  it  would  be 
to-day,  to  the  majority,  because  of  its  attractive  col- 
our scheme  and  the  patient  and  persevering  pre- 
cision which  he  devoted  to  details  —  and  yet, 
withal,  it  breathes  only  accomplished  mediocrity. 
His  portraits  are  faithful  transcripts  of  nature,  but 
they  lack  what  the  French  call  enveloppe;  there 
is  little  unity  of  subordination  in  his  group  paint- 
ings, and  the  colour,  though  harmonious,  is  often 
cold.  His  strength  lies  in  robust  simplicity  of  con- 
ception, vigorous  solidity  of  method,  and  unfail- 
ing carefulness.     All  these  traits  are  found  in  his 


78   TTbe  Hrt  ot  tbc  nctberlanD  Galleries 

world-renowned  "  Peace  Banquet,"  in  Amsterdam, 
although  I  would  prefer  some  of  his  smaller  pieces, 
notably  the  "  Doelen  Heeren  "  in  the  Ryksmuseum. 
The  Louvre  also  possesses  a  small  painting  of 
four  captains,  in  which  the  artist  has  surpassed  him- 
self. He  was  married  to  the  beautiful  Constantia 
Reynsh,  with  whom  he  lived  in  a  house  on  the 
Nieuwmarkt.  While  residing  there  he  painted  his 
only  genre  piece,  a  vivacious  portrayal  of  the 
crowding  tradespeople  on  this  renowned  market- 
place, with  its  mediaeval  guildhall  on  one  side. 
The  picture  is  unfortunately  now  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh. 

Many  of  the  immediate  pupils  of  Rembrandt 
have  added  greater  lustre  to  this  age.  Perhaps  the 
first  one  to  enter  his  studio  after  the  young  master 
had  settled  in  Amsterdam  was  Nicolaes  Moeyaert 
(1600-1669),  his  master's  elder  by  six  years,  who 
at  once  became  Rembrandt's  proud  admirer,  and 
followed  him  especially  in  his  biblical  etchings. 
Only  a  few  of  his  paintings  are  left  to  us.  He 
brought  with  him  to  Rembrandt's  studio  his  own 
pupil  Salomo  Koninck  (1609-1656),  who  became 
a  slavish  imitator  of  the  great  master.  In  colour, 
chiaroscuro,  even  in  dress  and  composition,  he  was 
entirely  in  his  manner,  and  many  of  his  paintings 
pass  as  poor  Rembrandts,  notably  a  "  Nebucad- 
nezar  "  in  an  English  collection.     Little  is  known 


Dis  Contemporaries  79 

of  Hendrik  Pot  (1600-1656),  in  fact  his  identity 
has  long  been  shrouded  in  mystery,  since  many  of 
the  paintings  ascribed  to  him  are  only  signed  by 
the  monogram  H.  P.,  and  many  of  these  differ  in 
subject  and  style  from  those  which  are  recorded  as 
being  from  the  hand  of  the  Haarlem  painter,  Hen- 
drik Gerritsz.  Pot.  Since  it  is  not  rare  that  paint- 
ers in  the  course  of  their  lives  so  completely  change 
their  line  and  style  that  no  similarity  remains  be- 
tween their  earlier  and  later  works,  we  may  well 
accept  the  identity  of  H.  P.  with  Pot.  His  single 
portraits  affect  Rembrandt's  manner,  while  his 
small  group  paintings  are  more  after  Hals. 

A  citizen  of  Leyden,  Jan  Lievens  (1607-1674), 
came  early  to  Amsterdam  and  entered  Lastman's 
studio,  but  on  Rembrandt's  settling  in  Amsterdam 
went  over  to  the  more  brilliant  painter.  He  seems 
to  have  been  of  an  impressionable  character,  for 
while  always  dominated  in  his  notions  of  chiaros- 
curo by  Rembrandt,  he  soon  fell  under  van  Dyck's 
influence  when  he  visited  England,  under  Italian 
influences  when  studying  the  famous  Southern 
paintings  which  Charles  I  was  importing,  and  again 
adopting  the  style  of  Rubens  when  he  came  to 
Antwerp,  where  he  married.  On  his  return  to  Hol- 
land he  secured  a  deserved  reputation  as  a  por- 
traitist, and  painted  also  some  biblical  and  his- 
torical pictures,  which  plainly  betray  the  mingled 


8o  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  fletberlant)  Oallcriea 

influences  of  his  various  prototypes.  A  painting 
of  his  called  "  Abraham's  Sacrifice,"  in  the  Doria 
Palace,  is  there  cataloged  under  the  name  of  Titian. 
A  new  set  of  pupils  soon  entered  Rembrandt's 
studio.  The  first  of  these  was  Jacob  Backer  (1608- 
165 1 )  of  Friesland,  who  came  to  Amsterdam  after 
having  learned  the  principles  of  his  art  from  Lam- 
bert Jacobsz.,  at  Leeu warden.  His  early  portraits 
mark  him  as  a  follower  of  the  great  master,  but 
later  he  became  more  conventional.  He  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  extraordinary  facility,  and 
Houbraken  asserts  that  he  finished  the  half  length 
of  a  lady,  dressed  in  troublesome  drapery  and 
loaded  with  jewelry,  in  one  day.  He  also  acquired 
great  reputation  as  a  painter  of  historical  pictures, 
which  were  extolled  in  the  poetry  of  Vondel,  but 
few  remain  at  the  present  time.  Ferdinand  Bol 
(1616-1680),  born  in  Dordrecht,  was  brought  to 
Amsterdam  when  three  years  old  and  died  there, 
after  acquiring  considerable  property  through  his 
art.  His  early  works,  from  about  1659,  bear  un- 
mistakably the  stamp  of  his  master,  but  in  later 
years  he  became  very  uncertain  and  lost  the  power 
of  chiaroscuro,  his  pictures  merely  having  a  yellow 
tone.  A  portrait  of  de  Ruyter,  which  originally 
hung  in  the  house  of  the  Zeeland  Scientific  Associa- 
tion in  Middelburg,  but  now  in  the  Admirals'  Gal- 
lery of  the  Ryksmuseum,  may  be  considered  his 
masterpiece. 


o    ^  s; 


o 
o 


Ibis  Contemporaries  8i 

Govert  Flinck  (1615-1660)  was  born  in  Cleve, 
on  the  German  frontier.  His  parents,  belonging 
to  the  Mennonite  sect,  were  prejudiced  against  all 
that  savoured  of  art  and  destined  him  to  trade. 
But  a  visit  of  Lambert  Jacobsz.  of  Leeuwarden, 
who  combined  his  painter's  profession  with  that  of 
Mennonite  exhorter,  resulted  in  young  Govert  be- 
ing sent  north.  Soon  he  left  his  master  to  enter 
with  Jacob  Backer  Rembrandt's  studio.  He  was 
the  master's  most  promising  pupil,  for  after  a  year 
his  work  was  scarcely  discernible  from  Rembrandt's. 
This  facility  hindered,  however,  his  progress  to  the 
fulfilment  of  early  promise.  While  his  paintings, 
up  to  1650,  are  worthy  and  distinguished,  we  find 
him  gradually  deteriorating  to  Italian  imitation. 
Many  of  his  early  pictures  have  in  the  past  been 
sold  as  Rembrandt's. 

Yet  two  other  pupils  are  found  in  Rembrandt's 
studio  about  1635.  The  many-sided  Jan  Victors 
(1620- 1 682),  of  whom  nothing  is  known  but  the 
dates  on  his  paintings,  shows  in  some  of  these  much 
affinity  to  his  master,  but  his  hand  was  apt  to  get 
heavy,  and  after  awhile  he  missed  the  fineness  and 
transparency  of  his  colour.  He  succeeded  better 
in  his  canvases  of  moderate  size  than  on  a  larger 
scale.  His  fellow-pupil  Gerbrandt  van  den  Eeck- 
hout  (162 1- 1 674)  became  his  master's  closest  imi- 
tator,  especially  in  his  small  biblical  subjects,   so 


8a   TLbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  •RetberlanD  Galleries 

that  his  "  Daughter  of  Jairus "  (in  Berlin)  was 
long  accredited  to  Rembrandt.  Generally  he 
missed,  however,  the  profound  depth  of  feeling  and 
the  poetical  imagination  which  vivifies  his  master's 
work.  Those  of  Rembrandt's  scholars  who  devoted 
themselves  to  landscape  and  genre  will  be  recorded 
in  the  next  chapters. 

New  pupils  came  with  1640,  two  young  artists 
of  the  name  of  Fabricius  among  them.  We  have 
very  few  data  concerning  them,  not  even  their  rela- 
tion to  each  other.  Karel  Fabricius  (1624-1654) 
lived  only  thirty  years,  being  one  of  the  victims  of 
the  powder  explosion  at  Delft.  He  mastered  his 
brush  effectively,  and  the  loss  to  art  seems  to  have 
been  great  by  his  untimely  death.  His  perspective 
views  are  as  admirable  as  his  portraiture.  Jan 
Vermeer  van  Delft  had  in  him  his  first  instructor. 
Of  Barent  Fabricius  we  only  know  that  the  dates 
of  his  pictures  range  from  1650  to  1672,  and  that  in 
1657  he  bought  a  house  in  Ley  den.  While  a  study 
of  his  works  indicates  his  Rembrandt  affiliation, 
he  possessed  nevertheless  an  original,  inventive 
spirit,  and  displayed  much  feeling  and  fancy.  He 
also  showed  a  quaint  leaning  towards  the  composi- 
tions of  old  Netherlandish  art,  sometimes  clothing 
his  figures  in  the  costumes  of  the  period  of  Lukas 
van  Leiden.  He  loved  warm  colours  and  reds, 
while  the  violet-gray  of  his  shadows  of  the  flesh 


Dts  Contemporaries  83 

may  be  considered  a  peculiar  characteristic.  His 
pictures  are,  however,  often  faulty  in  drawing,  lack 
thoroughness,  and  are  seemingly  hurried.  Still 
there  is  a  sympathetic  manner  about  his  work  which 
makes  it  very  attractive.  It  is  extremely  rare  in 
Holland.  At  the  same  time  we  find  there  Samuel 
van  Hoogstraten  (1626- 1678),  best  known  for  his 
"  Inleiding  tot  de  Hooge  School  der  Schilder- 
kunst "  (Introduction  to  the  University  of  Paint- 
ing), an  instructive  and  entertaining  volume,  which 
was  published  in  the  year  of  his  death.  At  first  he 
formed  himself  entirely  by  his  master's  example, 
but  a  trip  to  Italy  modified  his  style.  A  fellow- 
pupil  was  Hendrik  Heerschop  (flourished  1650- 
1660),  who  came  from  Haarlem,  where  he  had 
worked  first  under  Heda.  His  etchings  are  also 
in  Rembrandt's  style.  He  devoted  himself  in  his 
painting  to  quasi-historical  and  mythological  sub- 
jects. Other  pupils  of  this  time,  as  Maes,  Vermeer 
van  Delft,  de  Hooch,  Metsu,  are  to  be  mentioned 
later.  One  of  the  last  disciples  of  Rembrandt  was 
Aert  van  Gelder  (1645-1727),  born  in  Dordrecht 
and  at  first  apprenticed  to  van  Hoogstraten.  He 
must  have  worked  with  Rembrandt  while  the  mas- 
ter was  living  his  last  years  on  the  Rozengracht. 
He  became  an  able  imitator,  but  his  many  eccen- 
tricities obviated  his  attainment  to  eminence.  With 
a  fascinating  charm  of  colour,  admirable  conduct 


84   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlanC)  (Balleries 

of  light  and  shade,  and  a  richness  and  spirit  of 
the  brush  which  often  had  surprising  effects,  he 
combined  an  uncouth  choice  of  form,  and  a  certain 
emptiness  of  composition  and  roughness  of  draw- 
ing. He  also  amused  himself  to  apply  his  pig- 
ment with  thumb  and  fingers  and  the  handle  of 
his  brush,  which,  as  Hoogstraten  put  it,  "  had  not 
an  unpleasant  effect,  if  you  stood  far  enough 
away." 

A  number  of  artists  of  the  17th  century,  whose 
works  are  in  the  Netherland  Galleries,  now  claim 
our  attention;  and  although  they  were  naturally 
somewhat  influenced  by  the  prevailing  light  and 
shade  expression,  they  must  be  considered  inde- 
pendent of  Rembrandt's  studio. 

In  the  first  part  of  the  century  flourished  a  cer- 
tain Werner  van  den  Valkert,  a  pupil  of  Goltzius, 
of  whom  nothing  is  known,  but  several  excellent 
portraits  of  his  brush  are  in  Amsterdam.  In  the 
last  year  of  his  life  he  occupied  himself  in  Delft 
by  painting  on  fayence.  Jan  Olis  (1610-1665) 
painted  corps-de-gardes,  corporation  pieces,  and  a 
few  single  portraits.  Most  of  his  life  was  spent 
in  Amsterdam;  a  "  Kitchen  Interior,"  which  hangs 
in  the  Ryksmuseum  and  is  cataloged  under  his 
name,  is  more  likely  from  the  brush  of  Sorgh. 
Ludolph  de  Jongh  (1616-1697)  was  the  son  of  a 
shoemaker,  who  placed  him  under  the  tuition  of 


f)is  Contemporaries  85 

Corn.  Saftleven  and  afterwards  with  Palamedes. 
He  went  to  France,  residing  for  seven  years  in 
Paris,  where  his  small  easel  pictures  of  hunting 
parties  and  battles,  composed  and  touched  with 
spirit  and  vigour,  were  extremely  popular.  On  his 
return  to  Holland  he  devoted  himself  most  to  por- 
traiture, an  example  of  his  proficiency  being  in  The 
Hague.  Abraham  Lammert  Jacobsz.,  called  van 
den  Tempel  (1620- 1672),  lived  in  Ley  den  and  was 
a  scholar  of  Joris  van  Schooten.  His  portraits  in 
Rotterdam  and  The  Hague  display  great  talent  of 
broad  handling.  Jacob  Willemsz.  Delff  (1619- 
1661),  as  a  portrait  painter,  followed  Rembrandt's 
style  and  was  much  patronized  in  Delft  by  cele- 
brated personages.  Cornells  de  Man  (1621-1706), 
also  of  Delft,  went  early  to  Italy,  where  he  was 
especially  attracted  to  Titian.  After  nine  years 
he  returned  to  Holland,  showing  his  Italianized 
method  notably  in  his  "  Anatomy  Lesson,"  in  the 
Delft  hospital.  Jurriaen  Ovens  (1623-1678)  is 
supposed  to  have  studied  with  Rembrandt.  He 
excelled  in  painting  night  scenes  with  torchlight 
effects,  but  was  also  eminent  as  a  portrait  painter. 
Wallerant  Vaillant  (1623-1677)  was  born  in  Lille 
and  studied  in  Antwerp.  He  moved  to  Middel- 
burg  and  later  to  Amsterdam,  where  he  became  a 
popular  portrait  painter,  amassing  a  large  fortune. 
Some  of  his  group  paintings  are  found  there.     He 


86   TIbe  Hrt  of  tbe  "Wetberlant)  OallerieB 

was  one  of  the  first  mezzotinters.  Barent  Graat 
(1628-1709)  was  born  in  Amsterdam.  His  his- 
torical paintings  indicate  ItaHan  training,  while  his 
portraits  are  more  national  in  character.  Hendrik 
Berkmans  (1629-1690)  was  a  pupil  of  the  Fleming 
Jordaens,  and  first  painted  history,  but  he  met  with 
such  success  in  portraiture  that  he  abandoned  his 
early  subjects.  His  best  group  is  one  of  Archers 
in  Middelburg. 

The  influence  of  Dou  and  van  den  Tempel  in 
Leyden  produced  some  artists  whose  works  have 
been  preserved.  Jan  de  Baen  (1633-1702)  studied 
with  them,  and  was  called  to  England  by  Charles 
II  to  paint  his  portrait.  Some  of  his  portraits  are 
not  inferior  to  van  Dyck's.  His  son  Jacobus 
(1673-1700)  went  to  England  with  William  III, 
and  afterwards  to  Italy.  Abraham  de  Vries,  who 
died  in  1650,  belonged  to  the  Leyden  Guild,  but 
later  found  his  domicile  in  The  Hague.  Jakob  van 
Loo  (1614-1670)  also  hailed  from  the  "City  of 
the  Keys,"  Haarlem  and  The  Hague  possessing 
some  of  his  beautiful  portraits.  Karel  de  Moor 
(1656- 1 738)  was  at  first  intended  for  one  of  the 
learned  professions,  but  soon  was  allowed  to  enter 
Don's  studio,  and  later  studied  with  Frans  van 
Mieris  and  with  Schalcken.  In  the  cityhall  of  Ley- 
den there  is  a  painting  by  him  representing  the 
Judgment  of  Brutus  over  his  sons^  which  is  a  ter- 


Ibis  contemporaries  87 

rible,  awful,  and  most  impressive  canvas.  His 
pictures  are  cleverly  composed,  the  figures  cor- 
rectly drawn,  the  colour  clear  and  transparent.  In 
some  of  his  large  paintings  he  aimed  to  combine 
the  chaste  delicacy  of  van  Dyck  with  somewhat 
of  the  vigour  of  Rembrandt.  Athough  his  works 
are  highly  finished,  the  touch  is  firm  and  free. 

Michiel  van  Muscher  (1645-1703)  worked  with 
Metsu,  but  never  equalled  him.  His  execution  is 
thin  and  laboured,  and  his  colour  poor.  Of  Jur- 
riaen  Pool  (1665- 1745)  we  only  know  that  he  was 
the  husband  of  Rachel  Ruysch,  the  more  famous 
painter  of  flowers  and  butterflies,  and  that  he  often 
painted  his  wife's  portrait,  of  which  The  Hague 
and  Rotterdam  each  have  an  example.  Not  wish- 
ing to  compete  for  artistic  honours  with  his  wife, 
he  relinquished  the  brush  and  became  a  lace  mer- 
chant. The  two  Johannes  Vollevens,  father  and 
son  (1649-1728  and  1683-1759),  also  painted  por- 
traits, which  are  in  the  Municipal  museum  of  The 
Hague. 

The  Dutch  portrait  painters  of  the  17th  century, 
inspired  by  the  demand  of  their  people  for  the  pres- 
entation of  themselves  and  their  occupations  of 
honour  and  prowess,  acquitted  themselves  well. 
They  painted  character  as  well  as  features,  individ- 
uality in  preference  to  trifling  externalities. 


CHAPTER    V 

THE   GENRE    PAINTERS 

Genre  is  the  painting  of  the  familiar  Hfe  of  the 
people,  without  preponderance  of  the  figure,  the 
background  being  of  equal  importance.  It  is  not 
the  mere  story-telling  picture,  but  must  also  dis- 
play the  artist's  feeling  of  colour  and  light. 

The  Dutch  were  not  the  originators  of  this  style 
of  painting,  the  Venetian  Bassani  and  Carpaccio 
had  led  the  way,  but  the  Dutch  artists  of  the  17th 
century  gave  this  kind  of  art-expression  definite 
rank  and  importance.  It  appealed  to  them.  They 
had  little  interest  in  mystic  or  epic  art.  They  were 
too  hard-headed  and  practical.  Weary  of  war, 
hate  and  fanaticism,  they  turned  from  bitter  con- 
troversies concerning  dogma,  from  all  the  ensuing 
dreariness  and  desolation  of  those  troublous  times 
of  strife  and  enmity,  to  the  peaceful  scenes  of  home 
life,  so  dear  to  them.  The  love  of  home  became 
almost  a  religion  to  the  Dutch,  and  their  great 
painters  of  homely  life  were  its  prophets. 

88 


Ube  Genre  {painters  89 

The  Dutch  genre  painters  depicted  their  social 
history  with  a  fine  eye  for  the  broad,  permanent 
forces  of  society.  Nor  need  they  be  accused  of 
preference  for  low  life  and  a  coarse  display  of  vul- 
garity. The  Hollanders  are  a  frank  people,  and 
a  clean  people,  which  saves  them  from  senseless 
prudery  or  severe  convention,  whereby,  even  in 
what  is  apparently  common,  they  cannot  be  denied 
moral  dignity  through  their  grasp  of  character  and 
winning  frankness.  Whether  they  turn  up  the 
seamy  side  of  life,  as  Jan  Steen,  or  the  fashionable 
upper  classes  as  Terborch,  they  give  a  revelation 
of  character  expression  which  never  becomes  triv- 
ial. 

The  painters  of  genre  in  this  century  have  often 
been  called  the  "  little  masters."  This  must  not 
be  supposed  as  being  a  distinction  of  artistic  great- 
ness in  comparison  with  Rembrandt  or  Hals.  Far 
be  it  not  to  rank  the  work  of  men  like  Ostade, 
Vermeer  van  Delft,  Dou,  Terborch,  and  the  others 
among  the  foremost  treasures  of  this  golden  age. 
The  appellation  has  been  given  them  through  a 
misconception  of  the  use  of  this  term  in  Holland. 
There  it  referred  originally  to  the  size  of  their 
paintings,  to  their  "  little  masterpieces,"  and  by 
transition  to  the  artists  who  painted  these.  They 
were  masters,  "  great "  masters,  painting  in  "  lit- 
tle." 


Qo    XTbe  Brt  of  tbe  fletberlanD  (Balleries 

Among  the  first  to  devote  himself  to  genre  paint- 
ing was  Dirk  Hals  (i  5801656),  the  elder  brother 
of  Frans.  He  confined  himself  chiefly  to  the  rep- 
resentation of  convivial  parties,  where  cavaliers 
and  ladies  are  seen  enjoying  themselves  without 
much  reserve  at  table,  in  the  dance,  or  with  music. 
His  light  brush,  his  brilliant  colour,  laid  on  thinly 
over  a  grayish  ground,  and  sharply  accentuated, 
suited  the  themes  and  the  small  scale  of  his  pic- 
tures. These  are  extremely  rare,  although  several 
of  his  works  are  ascribed  to  other  artists,  as  for 
instance,  a  "  Violin  Rayer  "  in  Vienna,  to  Leduc ; 
two  little  panels  in  the  Gotha,  and  one  in  the  Han- 
nover museum  to  Palamedes.  Much  more  varying 
in  subject,  but  with  less  spirited  execution  was  this 
same  Anthony  Palamedes  (i  601 -1673),  '^^^  ^^^^ 
painted  portraits,  besides  his  better-known  "  con- 
versation pieces."  His  work  is  carefully  done,  at 
first  with  equal  lighting,  but  on  Rembrandt's  ex- 
ample later  showing  more  attempt  at  chiaroscuro. 

Some  confusion  through  similarity  of  name  has 
existed  between  Jacob  A.  Duck  and  Jan  le  Ducq. 
Jacob  A.  Duck  (1600-1660),  who  formed  himself 
under  the  influence  of  Dirk  Hals,  painted  military 
conversation  pieces,  with  less  delicacy  of  touch  and 
finish  than  those  of  Jan  Le  Ducq  (1636-1685), 
who  was  a  pupil  of  Paul  Potter,  whom  he  at  first 
imitated.     Later  he  changed  his  style  and  painted 


Ube  Genre  painters  91 

corps-de-gardes,  assemblies  of  officers,  card-play- 
ers, and  the  like,  which  are  more  frequently  met 
with  than  his  scarce  cattle  pieces.  In  1672  he 
abandoned  art  and  adopted  a  military  life.  Many 
pictures  going  by  the  name  of  Jacob  Duck  or  of 
Palamedes  really  belong  to  the  two  Pieters,  Potter 
and  Codde.  Pieter  Potter  (i 597-1652)  had  come 
from  Enkhuizen  to  Amsterdam,  and  painted  with 
far  stronger  touch  than  Duck  controlled.  Rem- 
brandt's influence  is  discernible  in  his  later  work. 
Pieter  Codde  (1599  1678)  was  an  excellent  artist, 
whose  graceful  assemblies  excel  in  fine  colour  and 
careful  minuteness.  Willem  Comelisz.  Duyster 
(1599- 1 635),  his  pupil,  was  bom  at  Amsterdam, 
where  he  had  but  a  short  career,  so  that  his  recog- 
nized works  are  scarce.  Paulus  van  Hillegaert 
(1596- 1 658)  painted  battles,  skirmishes,  and 
drunken  brawls.  He  shows  in  the  landscape  part 
of  his  pictures  the  influence  of  Jan  van  Goyen. 
Only  a  portrait  group  in  the  Mauritshuis  is  in  any 
public  gallery. 

Brought  up  in  the  a/tmosphere  of  landscape 
painting,  we  find  Adriaan  van  der  Venne  (1589- 
1662)  devoting  himself  more  to  genre,  albeit  in 
landscape  setting.  His  natural  wit  and  humour 
sought  an  outlet  in  quaintly  conceived  satirical  or 
illustrative  compositions.  Had  he  lived  at  the  pres- 
ent time  he  would  assuredly  have  been  a  foremost 


93   Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  IRetberlant)  (Balleries 

cartoonist.  His  occasional  portrait  groups  do  not 
compare  with  his  "  chapbook  "  work  on  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  his  time.  In  Dirk  van  Delen's 
(1605-1673)  work  we  find  the  figures  introduced, 
after  his  design,  by  his  brother-artists  of  Frans 
HaJs'  school.  He  depicted  on  a  small  scale,  with 
consummate  skill  and  delicacy,  exteriors  and  in- 
teriors of  splendid  palaces  and  villas,  with  costly 
marbles  of  various  kinds  gleaming  in  the  walls, 
columns  and  floors.  Terraces,  flights  of  steps,  trim 
gardens  and  alleys  with  fountains  in  full  play,  in- 
vite the  footsteps  of  the  wanderer  through  the 
brilliant  sunshine  and  the  cool  shade.  His  con- 
temporary Barthold  van  Bassen  (1600  ?-i652) 
was  equally  proficient  in  his  architectural  views  of 
churches,  which  genre  was  also  followed  by  the 
little-known  Gerard  Houckgeest  (1600-1653). 

Jan  van  Bylert  (1603- 1669)  was  a  genre  painter 
who  learned  his  art  from  Abraham  Bloemaert,  and 
after  a  visit  to  Rome  settled  in  his  native  Utrecht. 
Dirk  Stoop  (1610-1686),  a  pupil  of  Esaias  van 
de  Velde,  painted  cavalry  skirmishes,  hunts,  sea- 
ports, and  genre.  At  one  time  he  was  court  painter 
at  Lisbon.  Maarten  Klaasz.,  a  skipper  from  Rot- 
terdam to  Antwerp,  whose  watchful  care  over  his 
passengers  gave  him  the  nickname  Sorgh  (Care), 
adopted  this  as  his  surname.  His  painter  son,  Hen- 
drik  Sorgh   (1611-1670),  has  a  fine  "Tempest" 


Xlbe  Genre  {painters  93 

in  the  Ryksmuseum,  but  is  better  known  for  his 
market  views.  Cornelis  Pietersz.  Bega  (1620- 
1664)  was  a  Haarlem  painter  of  genre  in  the  style 
of  Izaak  van  Ostade.  He  died  of  the  plague  which 
also  found  so  many  of  the  de  Bray  family  for 
victims.  Churches  again  formed  the  subjects  for 
the  Alkmaar-born  Emanuel  de  Witte  (1617-1692), 
whose  perspectives  are  wonderfully  true.  His 
work  excels  in  tasty  arrangement  and  grouping  of 
the  figures,  bathed  in  clear  light.  His  was  an 
unfortunate  life,  as  his  capricious  character  allowed 
him  but  few  friends,  until  at  an  advanced  age  he 
did  away  with  himself  to  end  a  poverty-stricken 
existence.  The  best  of  these  church  painters  was, 
however,  Pieter  Jansz.  Saenredam  (1597- 1665), 
who  had  come  to  Haarlem  with  his  mother  from 
the  little  village  of  Assendelft  in  1608,  His  spirited 
work  is  admirable  and  attractive. 

Since  we  are  in  Haarlem  we  will  take  a  look 
at  the  pupils  of  Frans  Hals  who  followed  genre. 
His  son,  by  the  same  name  (16201670),  painted 
many  genre  pieces  in  his  manner,  but  excelled  more 
in  still-life  productions.  One  of  the  most  famous 
of  the  young  men  with  whom  he  ass9ciated  was 
Adriaen  van  Ostade  (1610-1685).  Averse  to  his 
father's  trade  of  linen-weaving,  he  became  a  fellow 
pupil  with  the  Flemish  Adriaan  Brouwer  in  the 
Hals  studio.    Choosing  the  same  kind  of  subjects 


94   ^be  Hrt  of  tbe  •fletbeclanb  Galleries 

as  Brouwer,  his  treatment  of  these  is  less  bois- 
terous, more  good-natured,  sparkling,  and  with  all 
its  burlesque  nature,  less  gross.  His  scenes  are 
taken  from  ordinary  peasant  life  in  cottages  and 
humble  dwellings,  trivial  subjects  forsooth,  but 
dealt  with  from  a  comic  or  grotesque  point  of 
view,  which  is  distinctly  amusing.  His  humour- 
ous mise-en-scene  never  presents  overstrained  ac- 
tion in  the  figures,  but  is  a  natural,  artless  por- 
trayal of  the  life  of  the  people  about  him.  He 
knew  also  how  to  juggle  his  paint  with  consummate 
skill  in  melting  colours,  deft  application  of  light 
effect,  and  precision  of  handling.  His  pictures 
have  technical  freshness,  a  straightforwardness  in 
means  and  intent,  which  makes  the  study  of  them 
most  delightful.  The  influence  of  Rembrandt 
changed  the  work  of  his  first  period,  which  is  more 
cool  in  tone,  to  a  deeper,  golden  brown,  while  his 
third  period,  with  greater  finish,  is  less  vigorous  and 
less  picturesque.  The  large  colour  drawings  which 
he  made  in  his  last  period  must  be  excepted.  Many 
of  these  are  in  the  Teyler  museum  in  Haarlem, 
and  are  distinguished  for  breadth  of  treatment  and 
harmony.  His  etchings  also  are  of  the  best,  his 
fine  needle  graving  the  most  delicious  prints.  He 
was  twice  married,  the  second  time  with  a  daugh- 
ter of  his  townsman  Jan  van  Goyen. 

Little   is   known   of    Pieter   de   Bloot    (1600?- 


Zbc  Oenre  painters  95 

1652)  who  painted  droll  scenes,  drunken  frolics, 
and  quarrels  of  peasantry.  Jan  Miense  Molenaer 
(1610-1668)  also  belonged  to  the  gay  crowd  that 
gathered  around  the  jolly  Frans.  Very  early  in 
life  he  married  the  paintress  Judith  Leyster  (1605- 
1660),  of  whom  we  have  some  capital  examples 
in  the  Dutch  museums,  but  who  is  not  mentioned 
in  any  records  except  as  Molenaer's  wife.  Women 
were  in  those  times  not  regarded  as  entities  in  so- 
cial conditions,  merely  as  wives  or  spinsters.  For 
one  of  them  to  attempt  individual  work  in  a  pro- 
fession was  unheard  of.  Only  two  women  paint- 
ers, Judith  and  the  excellent  flower  painter  Rachel 
Ruysch,  have  asserted  their  individual  standing  by 
their  work,  which  is  more  noticeable  because  no 
record  exists  of  women's  work  in  any  other  pro- 
fession. Molenaer's  earlier  works  afford  distinct 
evidence  of  the  tutelage  of  Frans  Hals,  which  later 
gradually  disappeared  when  he  came  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Rembrandt's  all-powerful  example.  In 
this  later  period  we  find  a  greater  compactness  of 
grouping  and  a  more  economic  distribution  of  high 
light  and  positive  colours  amidst  broad  masses  of 
warmly  neutral  shade.  His  subjects  are  for  the 
most  part  scenes  from  village  life. 

The  greatest  of  Frans  Hals'  pupils  is  least  like 
him.  Yet  Gerard  Terborch  (1617-1681),  in  his 
original  and  individual  manner,  is  among  the  peers 


96   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  'Wetberlant)  eallertes 

of  the  masters  of  the  17th  century.  Although  we 
may  discern  some  traits  of  painting,  its  freedom 
of  execution,  for  instance,  which  he  must  have 
learned  from  his  master,  Terborch  developed  this 
in  his  own  way  to  greater  reserve  in  the  splendour 
of  painting,  which  we  so  much  admire  in  Hals, 
preferring  rather  delicate  and  moderate  harmonies 
of  tone,  graduated  with  exquisite  art,  yet  invari- 
ably just  in  their  values.  While  Hals  is  boisterous 
in  the  bravura  of  painting,  Terborch's  brio  is  more 
subtle,  less  emotional,  though  none  the  less  vivid. 
The  difference  of  subjects  is  no  distinction.  Each 
painted  his  own.  The  common  types  of  Hals  ac- 
corded with  the  master's  predilection.  Terborch, 
by  birth  and  breeding  an  aristocrat,  painted  the 
elegant  manners  of  the  beau-monde. 

He  came  from  an  old  family  of  Zwolle,  in  the 
province  of  Overysel,  where  his  father  was  a  man 
of  wealth  and  culture,  himself  an  amateur  of  art. 
Gerard's  early  talent  was  carefully  fostered  by  his 
father,  who  sent  him  first  to  Amsterdam,  but  after 
a  short  stay  there  to  Haarlem,  where  Pieter  Molyn, 
and  later  Frans  Hals,  were  his  instructors.  At  the 
instigation  of  Molyn,  English  bom,  he  went  to 
London  in  the  beginning  of  1635.  A  letter  of 
advice  and  counsel,  which  the  elder  Terborch  wrote 
to  his  son,  is  typical  of  Dutch  character  of  the  time. 
He    wrote :     "  Draw    constantly,    and    especially 


ir^ 

^H 

^^M 

^E^5^ 

B 

^^^^rf 

H 

^m 

^^^^^^^^gi^l 

^^fjj^^ 

RH 

^^H 

hhI 

K^ 

^j^H 

^^^^^^H 

^p^^BJ^I 

t        v^^ 

^^^^^^^H 

^^M 

^^^^f^^^t 

^^1 

I^^^E^ 

^H 

H^l 

-^^^^^^^^^H 

^^^^Nv7\^^| 

^^H 

^^^^^ 

Hi 

^S 

iJ  -a. 


Xlbc  ©enre  painters  97 

choose  large  compositions  with  much  action  in 
them.  When  you  paint,  treat  modern  subjects  as 
much  as  possible.  Have  regard  to  purity  and  fresh- 
ness of  colouring,  that  your  colours  may  harmonize 
when  they  are  dried.  Above  all,  serve  God,  be 
honest,  humble,  and  useful  to  all,  and  your  affairs 
will  turn  out  well." 

From  London  he  journeyed  through  France  to 
Italy,  where  he  studied  Titian  and  other  masters, 
without  submitting  his  development  to  these  ex- 
traneous influences,  or  being  seduced  to  imitation. 
His  was  a  logical  self-unfolding  of  inherent  talent, 
arriving  at  his  maturity  through  the  growth  of 
individual  conceptions.  He  remained  Dutch  in 
character,  in  subjects,  and  in  technic.  After  a  few 
years  in  Amsterdam,  where  Rembrandt  impressed 
him  and  revealed  to  him  the  possibilities  of  the 
light  of  interiors,  he  went  in  1646  to  Miinster,  then 
the  political  centre  of  Europe,  where  diplomats 
from  all  courts  were  gathered,  as  well  as  the  dele- 
gates to  the  congress  which  concluded  in  1648  the 
Peace  of  Miinster,  making  an  end  to  the  Eighty 
Years'  War.  His  ability  in  portraiture  is  demon- 
strated in  that  wonderful  group  painting,  now 
hanging  in  the  National  Gallery  in  London,  in 
which  he  depicts  the  delegates  of  the  United  Prov- 
inces and  the  Spanish  Ambassadors,  while  listen- 
ing to  the  oath  of  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  peace. 


98   xrbe  Hrt  of  tbe  fletberlant)  6allcttes 

It  was  while  at  Miinster  that  Count  de  Peneranda, 
the  Spanish  Ambassador,  induced  Terborch  to  ac- 
company him  to  Spain.  The  artist  was  received 
with  greait  distinction,  and  after  painting-  several 
portraits,  none  of  which  has  survived,  he  was  cre- 
ated a  ChevaHer  by  the  King-.  His  courteous  man- 
ner evolved  into  flirtatious  conquests  of  ladies' 
hearts,  which  aroused  deep  jealousy  at  the  court, 
and  our  Don  Juan  had  to  leave  between  two  suns. 
On  his  return  to  Holland  he  stayed  awhile  with 
his  family  in  Zwolle,  and  in  1654  married  a  young 
woman  of  Deveruter,  where  he  established  himself 
as  a  citizen,  and  during  the  quiet  life  which  fol- 
lowed wrought,  in  the  fulness  of  power,  most  of 
those  jewel-like  transcripts  of  the  bon-ton,  which 
are  now  prized  so  highly. 

Terborch  has  given  us  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  private  life  of  the  patrician  class  of  Hol- 
land of  his  time,  the  family  life  of  the  Dutch  mer- 
chants, the  lords  of  the  commerce  of  the  world. 
With  extreme  simplicity  he  shows  us  the  rich  and 
tasteful  furnishing  of  my  lady's  boudoir,  with  its 
red  hangings,  high  marble  chimneypiece,  its  little 
canopied  bed,  its  table  covered  with  heavy  Oriental 
tapestry.  Even  her  wardrobe  we  may  study  —  the 
dress  of  yellowish  silk,  that  of  garnet  edged  with 
swansdown,  the  collar  of  pearls;  or  again  the  ac- 
coutrements of  her  visitor  in  bufif  jerkin,  or  dressed 


Ube  (Benre  painters  99 

in  the  latest  mode  with  square-toed  shoes  and  pro- 
fusion of  ribbons.  He  becomes  a  truer  historian 
than  any  of  the  Dutch  painters  who  preceded  him. 
To  his  excellent  drawing,  his  velvety  colour,  correct 
modelling,  and  his  unexcelled  facility  he  adds 
shrewd  observance  of  salient  character,  apt  com- 
mentary, and  spiritual  conception  —  thus  he  found 
his  triumph  in  truthful  delineation  without  man- 
nerism, without  pathos,  or  dramatic  intent,  but  full 
of  the  humour  of  unconscious  spying.  The  only 
man  with  whom  in  this  respect  he  can  be  compared 
is  Jan  Steen,  who  likewise  had  that  same  naivete 
to  depict  character,  choosing  to  see  it  in  the  low 
and  gross,  as  Terborch  siaw  it  in  the  refined  and 
elegant. 

His  only  pupil  of  whom  there  is  record,  Caspar 
Netscher  (1639- 1684),  however  talented,  never 
reached  him  quite.  Netscher  became  very  popular 
among  the  upper  classes,  whose  indoor  life  he 
painted,  but  in  artistic  quality  cannot  be  compared 
with  Terborch,  Metsu,  Dou,  and  others;  his  strong- 
est claim  to  distinction  being  his  mastery  of  tex- 
ture painting,  notably  of  silks  and  satins. 

We  will  now  turn  to  those  "  little  masters,"  who 
were  direct  pupils  of  Rembrandt  and  passed 
through  his  studio.  The  first  young  man  who  came 
to  him  in  Leyden,  when  the  budding  genius  him- 
self was  only  twenty-one,  was  the  fifteen  year  old 


loo  Ube  art  of  tbc  "Metberlanb  (Ballerics 

Gerard  Dou  (1613-1675).  He  was  the  son  of  a 
glass-painter,  and  had  already  served  his  father  for 
three  years  in  his  workshop,  and  had  there  laid  the 
foundation  for  that  inexhaustible  patience  where- 
with he  later  executed  his  marvellous,  enamel-like 
jewels.  The  distinction  of  method  between  master 
and  pupil  may  be  readily  understood  if  we  take  in 
account  Dou's  early  training.  While  he  learned 
from  Rembrandt  that  brilliant  mastery  of  interior 
light,  and  of  colour,  which  never  in  life  failed  him, 
he  adhered  to  his  original  tendency  for  minute 
execution.  And  while  Rembrandt,  after  leaving 
Leyden,  grew  broader,  larger,  more  powerful,  Dou 
contented  himself  with  ever  increasing  care  for 
delicate  treatment  and  extreme  finish.  On  Rem- 
brandt's departure  Dou  established  himself  inde- 
pendently, and  at  first  devoted  his  talents  to  por- 
traiture. But  his  early  bias  got  ever  stronger,  and 
as  he  compelled  his  fitters  to  pose  for  five  days 
merely  to  have  a  hand  finished,  the  tediousness  of 
the  procedure  to  paint  the  face  often  distorted  their 
features  from  amiability  to  vexation,  weariness 
and  displeasure  —  surely  unfitting  them  to  serve  as 
models  for  his  skill.  Commissions  grew  less  and 
less,  and  Dou  was  compelled  to  paint  his  figures 
from  paid  models  —  which  plausibly  explains  why, 
with  Dutch  thriftiness,  he  spent  most  of  the  time 
on  painting  the  still-life  part  of  his  pictures,  de- 


XTbe  (Benre  {Painters  loi 

voting,  according  to  his  own  statement,  three  days 
to  a  broomstick  "  hardly  bigger  than  your  finger- 
nail." 

The  familiar  subjects  of  his  tiny  masterpieces 
and  the  exquisite  finish  of  their  details  completely 
captivated  the  taste  of  the  public  of  his  day.  They 
were  highly  paid,  and  have  always  kept  and  con- 
stantly increased  their  commercial  value.  The 
Minister  from  the  Court  of  Sweden  at  The  Hague, 
Pieter  Spiering,  paid  him  an  annuity  of  i,ooo 
florins  to  have  the  first  choice  of  whatever  he 
should  paint  each  year,  besides  paying  the  full 
price  for  the  pictures  selected.  Dou  was  an  inces- 
sant worker  and  accomplished  much.  Despite  his 
slow  process  and  miniature-like  execution,  he  left 
to  posterity  about  three  hundred  pictures,  which  he 
painted  in  his  home  by  the  Galgewater  in  Leyden. 
He  lived  there,  unmarried,  with  his  niece  Antonia 
van  Tol  as  housekeeper.  His  choice  of  this  home 
on  a  quiet  canal  was  made  to  be  as  free  as  possible 
from^  the  dust  raised  on  a  much-travelled  road. 
For  the  famous  Dutch  characteristic  of  love  of 
cleanliness  was  carried  by  Dou  to  the  excess  that 
when  he  had  entered  his  studio  he  would  seat  him- 
self at  his  easel  and  wait  until  any  particles  of  dust 
that  might  have  been  raised  by  his  entrance  had 
subsided.  Not  until  then  would  he  uncover  the 
picture  he  was  engaged  upon,  and  his  palette  and 


.„;.AKBA.ASrA™CO..BCEU»»V 


Snc^s 


102  Ube  art  of  tbe  "Wetberlant)  Galleries 

brushes.  Taking  in  consideration  his  craving  for 
absolute  smoothness,  concealing  every  touch  of  the 
brush,  v^e  need  not  wonder  at  such  fastidiousness. 

And  yet,  such  is  the  masterfulness  of  Don's  tal- 
ent, that  we  never  think  of  him  as  a  finicky  painter. 
His  skill  was  such  that  we  forget  to  a  great  extent 
the  painstaking,  infinite  patience  of  the  worker  for 
the  beauty,  the  unrivalled  precision  of  his  execu- 
tion, the  exquisite  transparency  of  his  colour,  the 
picturesque  arrangement  of  the  work  he  produced. 
He  painted  the  home  life  of  simple  people  with 
delightful  truth  and  sympathetic  interest  in  their 
peaceful  routine,  and  he  did  this  in  perfect  form, 
all  parts  in  perfect  relation  to  one  another,  with 
aerial  perspective  and  enveloping  atmosphere.  He 
was  a  great  master. 

Equally  great  was  Nicolaas  Maes  (1632-1693), 
who  came  to  Rembrandt  a  few  years  after  the  mas- 
ter had  settled  in  Amsterdam,  and  who  marked 
himself  by  the  independent  manner  in  which,  after 
assimilating  his  master's  principles,  he  applied 
Rembrandt's  instruction  and  example.  While  the 
portraits  which  he  executed  in  his  later  years  are 
excellent,  — those  in  the  Boymans  museum  notably 
90,  —  he  shows  himself  at  his  best  in  his  earlier 
work,  soon  after  he  left  Rembrandt.  In  the  work 
of  this  period  he  unites  subtlety  of  chiaroscuro, 
vigorous  colour,   and  great   mastery   in   handling, 


Ubc  (Benre  painters  103 

with  that  true  finish  which  never  becomes  trivial. 
The  figures  are  finely  drawn,  and  their  action  is 
perfect.  Harmonies  of  red  and  black  prevail,  some- 
times pervading  the  picture  in  subdued  tone,  some- 
times brought  out  in  full  contrasting  force  against 
white.  In  his  last  years  he  pairnted  a  number  of 
children's  portraits  for  the  patrician  families  of  his 
time,  but  succumbed  somewhat  to  the  Frenchified 
taste  which  was  then  sapping  Dutch  character. 

It  might  have  been  considered  heretical,  and 
that  not  so  many  years  ago,  to  have  called  Jan 
Vermeer  van  Delft  (1632-1675)  Rembrandt's 
greatest  pupil.  Still,  in  the  vicissitudes  of  errant 
fashion  Vermeer,  after  long  neglect,  has  come  into 
his  own,  and  the  same  honour  and  encomium  be^ 
stowed  upon  him  during  his  lifetime  is  duplicated 
by  the  meed  of  praise  wherewith  his  name  is  now 
mentioned.  One  of  the  reasons  why  we  reject 
Arnold  Houbraken  as  an  authority  in  his  "  Groote 
Schouwburg  der  Nederlandsche  Konstschilders " 
(Great  Theatre  of  the  Netherland  Painters),  and 
consider  him  merely  an  old  gossip,  is  because  he 
completely  ignores  this  great  master.  Even  Fro- 
mentin,  on  Houbraken's  example,  passes  him  by. 
E.  J.  T.  Thore,  the  celebrated  French  critic  who 
wrote  of  Dutch  art  under  the  pseudonym  W. 
Burger,  was  the  first  to  rescue  from  oblivion  and 
vindicate  the  marvellous  beauty  of  Vermeer's  pic- 
tures. 


104  TTbe  art  ot  tbe  laetberlant)  (Balleries 

Although  Burger's  statement  that  Vermeer  was 
in  Rembrandt's  studio  has  been  questioned  by  most 
writers,  I  would  support  him  on  the  internal  evi- 
dence of  Vermeer's  earlier  works,  notably  in  his 
only  painting  of  life-size  figures,  now  in  Dresden, 
and  in  his  "  Milkmaid,"  recently  sold  from  the 
Six  collection  to  the  Ryksmuseum.  Both  of  these 
paintings  bear  the  indubitable  impress  of  the 
breadth  and  amplitude  of  Rembrandt's  figure  paint- 
ing. 

Vermeer's  life  was  uneventful.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  years  in  Amsterdam,  it  was  passed 
entirely  in  his  native  city  Delft,  whence  the  words 
"  van  Delft "  are  affixed  to  his  name,  in  order  to 
distinguish  him  from  others  of  the  same  name  — 
Jan  Vermeer,  or  van  der  Meer,  van  Utrecht  (1630- 
1688),  and  from  the  Vermeer,  or  van  der  Meer, 
van  Haarlem  (1656-1705).  He  must  have  been 
very  poor  indeed  when  he  entered  the  Guild  of  St. 
Luke  in  Delft,  and  had  to  pay  his  entrance  fee  of 
six  guilders  in  instalments,  which  it  took  him  three 
years  to  complete.  That  his  art  became  soon  pro- 
ductive, however,  may  be  seen  from  his  self-por- 
trait in  the  Czemin  Gallery  of  Vienna  (formerly 
ascribed  to  de  Hooch,  until  rightly  attributed  by 
Burger),  which  shows  him  richly  attired  and  at 
work  in  a  room  of  no  mean  appointments.  In  the 
midst  of  his  prosperity  he  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 


s  s 


e)  It, 


XTbe  Genre  ipainters  105 

three,  leaving  his  wife  and  eight  children  well  pro- 
vided for. 

No  three  artists  could  be  more  strongly  indi- 
vidual than  Maes,  Vermeer,  and  de  Hooch.  They 
learned  from  Rembrandt  the  subtleties  and  mys- 
teries of  graduated  light,  but  developed  this  with 
a  keenness  of  perception  all  their  own,  even  with 
greater  refinement  than  their  master  ever  sought. 
Jan  Vermeer  is  original  in  the  manner  in  which 
he  bathes  his  interiors  in  a  diffused  silvery  light, 
as  de  Hooch  more  favoured  the  golden  sunlight  in 
graded  planes  —  both  were  eminently  light-paint- 
ers. Sometimes  Vermeer  takes  us  outdoors,  and 
then  his  light  is  a  part  of  the  atmosphere,  as  we 
may  see  in  his  "  View  of  Delft "  in  the  Maurits- 
huis,  and  in  his  street  scene  in  the  Six  collection. 
But  generally  we  find  an  interior  the  subject  of 
the  few  works  that  have  come  down  to  us.  There 
he  places  most  frequently  the  figure  in  the  fore- 
ground in  shade,  as  if  we  are  looking  at  the  scene 
through  a  hole  in  the  wall,  or  out  of  a  very  dark 
entry,  while  he  admits  the  light  through  a  window 
in  the  middle  distance  or  in  the  background.  Then 
he  finds  full  play  in  letting  this  light  fill  the  room 
in  just  proportion,  from  a  bright  wall  to  the  shad- 
owed corner  of  the  canvas.  And  by  this  peculiarity 
of  his  he  has  become  the  greatest  painter  of  values 
ever  known,  that  is,  the  value  of  the  same  colour 


io6   Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  taetberlanb  (Balleries 

under  varying",  receding  intensity  of  light.  He 
showed  more  interest  in  his  figures  than  de  Hooch 
did.  They  have  more  to  do  with  the  pictorial  ef- 
fect. He  loved  to  introduce  young  women  in  some 
trivial  occupation,  and  then  his  readily  flowing 
brush  moulds  before  us  a  figure  with  all  the  sub- 
dued intensity  of  vitality.  But  his  main  object 
was  his  conception  and  treatment  of  light  that 
waves  and  shimmers  in  the  ever  changing  effect  of 
his  magic  play  of  chiaroscuro. 

Vermeer's  colour  was  also  peculiar  to  himself. 
Reynolds  possibly  never  would  have  made  his  at- 
tack on  the  use  of  blue  a  half  century  later  —  so 
cleverly  discredited  by  Gainsborough  —  if  he  had 
seen  the  use  which  Vermeer  had  made  of  that 
most  unmanageable  of  colours.  It  is  a  favourite 
colour  of  our  painter  —  a  "  moonlight  blue,"  as 
Woermann  has  felicitously  called  it  —  which  is 
familiar  to  every  one  who  is  acquainted  with  Ver- 
meer's pictures.  It  intensified  his  height  of  light 
and  made  it  transparent,  vibrant,  scintillating.  He 
combined  therewith  certain  shades  of  yellow  that 
gleam  and  sparkle  in  his  illuminated  surfaces  and 
in  his  tender  flesh-tones.  His  technic  is  unctuous, 
or  smooth  and  satiny,  or  even  grainy,  almost  rough, 
but  always  marvellous  in  its  knowing  ease.  One 
of  the  best  examples  from  which  this  wonderful 
painter  may  be  studied,  both  for  colour  and  brush- 


ZTbc  6enre  painters  107 

work,  hangs  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  New 
York.  His  "  Woman  opening-  a  Casement "  may 
be  ranked  among  his  masterpieces. 

Pieter  de  Hooch  (1630 1677)  must  be  ranked 
with  Maes  and  Vermeer,  because  of  his  successful 
solution  of  a  problem  of  his  own  creation,  which 
no  one  else  has  ever  solved  in  such  masterful  fash- 
ion. He  aimed  to  introduce  different  light  effects 
through  open  doors  and  windows,  often  opposing 
outdoor  and  interior  light  in  the  same  composition. 
In  fact,  the  only  criticism  that  might  be  raised 
against  him  is  that  his  object  is  too  evident,  the 
difficulties  wliich  he  overcomes  with  such  striking 
effect  are  purposely  sought,  it  savours  often  of 
artifice,  and  his  work  comes  perilously  near  being 
a  tour-de-force.  And  yet,  with  what  convincing 
truth  does  he  not  handle  the  bright  glowing  of 
light,  the  accidental  glints  and  reflections,  the  vari- 
ous actions  and  interactions  of  a  sun-ray,  the  warm, 
luminous  ensemble  of  a  series  of  rooms,  the  clear, 
perspective  distance  —  so  convincing  that,  lifting 
his  work  above  a  mere  technical  triumph,  he  makes 
us  stand  before  his  pictures  amazed.  Amazed,  be- 
cause those  rooms  which  he  depicts  seem  to  hollow 
out,  the  furniture  and  figures  —  none  so  prominent 
as  to  distract  our  attention  —  are  enveloped  by 
that  light  in  such  a  way  that  the  space  becomes 
deep  and  receding,  it  is  as  if  our  eyes  were  fixed 


io8  Ubc  art  ot  tbe  1Kletbcrlan^  Galleries 

to  a  stereoscxype.  And  that  is  just  the  prime  qual- 
ity of  all  of  de  Hooch's  painting:  through  light 
and  atmosphere  he  gives  his  pictures  the  illusion 
of  three  dimensions.  He  is  equally  convincing 
where  he  abandons  these  opposing  lights  and  gives 
full  sway  to  his  glorious  sunlight  as  it  bathes  house- 
fronts  and  courtyards.  No  one  else  ever  painted 
sunlight  with  such  brilliancy,  such  glow,  such  daz- 
zling effect,  such  a  resplendent  stream  which  trans- 
forms and  glorifies  all. 

We  must  also  admire  the  vibrant  harmony  of 
his  colouring,  the  unobtrusive  placing  of  his  figures, 
so  that  the  scene  always  breathes  a  sentiment  of 
peace,  tranquillity,  refinement  and  domesticity.  But 
we  will  always  come  back  to  his  unparalleled  pic- 
torial expression  of  the  subtleties  of  sunshine. 

Where  de  Hooch  learned  his  jugglery  with  sun- 
rays  we  know  not.  He  is  classed  as  a  pupil  of 
Rembrandt,  because  their  light  theories  are  the 
same  in  principle,  no  matter  how  diverging  in 
practice.  Whether  he  studied  the  mysteries  of 
light  in  Rembrandt's  own  studio  or  at  second  hand 
with  Fabricius,  Who  first  taught  him  in  Delft,  can- 
not be  ascertained.  For  all  we  know  of  him  is 
the  year  of  his  birth,  but  not  its  place,  and  that 
from  1655  to  '58  he  lived  in  Delft,  where  he  was 
inscribed  a  member  of  the  Guild  of  St.  Luke.  We 
lose  sight  of  him  entirely  until  1668,  when  he  is 


Ube  (3enre  painters  109 

found  in  Amsterdam,  where  he  may  have  been  for 
ten  years  previous,  for  all  we  know.  His  last  dated 
picture  is  of  1677;  after  that  there  is  absolute 
silence,  from  which  it  may  be  conjectured  that  he 
died  shortly  after. 

A  direct  pupil  of  Rembrandt  was  Gabriel  Metsu 
(1630-1667),  who  received  his  first  instruction 
from  Dou,  and  was  intimate  with  Jan  Steen. 
When  he  was  twenty  he  had  already  for  two  years 
been  admitted  to  the  Guild  of  his  native  Leyden. 
Then  he  moved  to  Amsterdam,  where  he  lived  dur- 
ing the  remainder  of  his  life.  He  came  at  once 
under  Rembrandt's  influence,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  great  master's  decided  impress  upon  Metsu's 
earlier  works. 

We  must  have  observed  how  little  is  known  of 
the  private  life  of  most  of  these  painters.  Only 
birth,  death,  and  marriage  registers,  and  the  dates 
on  their  paintings  give  us  often  the  only  informa- 
tion obtainable.  The  gossip  of  van  Mander  and 
Houbraken  has  proved  utterly  unreliable,  only  van 
Hoogstraten  and  Waagen  supplying  trustworthy 
data.  Thus,  all  we  know  of  Metsu  is  that  he  mar- 
ried in  Amsterdam  in  1658,  and  that  he  died  there 
at  the  early  age  of  seven  and  thirty.  His  work 
shows  him  to  have  been  an  impressionable  char- 
acter. One  or  the  other  of  his  contemporaries  is 
generally  to  be  recognized  in  his  scenes  of  peasant 


no  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  metberlant)  (Balleries 

life,  his  few  portraits,  and  his  Httle  pictures  of  life 
in  the  parlours  or  boudoirs  of  the  wealthy  class  of 
society.  They  are  all  reminiscent  of  like  compo- 
sitions by  van  Ostade,  Terborch,  Jan  Steen,  and 
a  host  of  others  —  for  Metsu  lacked  the  power  of 
individual  observation. 

Notwithstanding  this,  possibly  unconscious,  imi- 
tation, his  work  possesses  masterly  characteristics, 
the  inspiration  of  the  truest  feeling,  and  the  spirit 
of  perfect  serenity.  Especially  as  a  draughtsman 
he  is  the  most  accomplished  of  the  Dutch  genre 
painters,  while  his  technic  is  his  own,  rivalling 
Don's  in  finish,  but  invariably  lighter  and  freer  in 
handling  —  the  "  grand  style  "  on  a  small  scale. 
He  is  also  remarkable  in  the  exquisite  delicacy 
wherewith  he  portrays  the  play  of  features  on  an 
otherwise  placid,  even  phlegmatic  countenance,  so 
that  his  personages,  with  all  their  serenity  and 
repose,  still  display  the  human  emotion  which 
makes  sympathetic  appeal.  Althoug'h  I  have  sug- 
gested a  resemblance  between  Metsu's  compositions 
and  those  of  others,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
if  he  borrowed  he  repaid  with  interest.  For  if  we 
might  find  Jan  Steen's  spirit  in  his  "  Intruder," 
of  Lord  Northbrook's  collection,  it  is  Jan  Steen 
wholly  devoid  of  coarseness.  If  we  might  sup- 
pose Terborch  to  have  suggested  his  Louvre  pic- 
ture of  "  An  Officer  and  a  Young  Lady,"  it  is  Ter- 


Xlbe  Genre  painters  m 

boroh  animated  with  a  spirit  he  himself  veiy  rarely 
displays.  And  Metsu's  single  half-length  types, 
which  remind  us  so  vividly  of  Gerard  Don,  are 
more  elevated,  more  intellectual,  more  spirituelle, 
as  may  be  seen  in  those  little  panels  in  the  Ryks- 
museum,  "  The  Old  Toper  "  and  "  An  Old  Woman 
Reading."  The  portrait  of  an  "  Old  Woman  "  in 
the  Berlin  Gallery,  one  of  Metsu's  few  life^ize 
portraits,  must  also  be  considered  as  masterly  a 
production  as  can  be  found  from  any  of  the  por- 
trait painters  of  the  17th  century,  Rembrandt  and 
Hals  excepted.  After  all  is  said,  Metsu  must  de- 
servedly be  placed  above  the  second  rank  of  Dutch 
artists.  He  could  not  paint  light  as  de  Hooch  or 
Vermeer,  nor  movement  as  Jan  Steen,  nor  the 
refinement  of  breeding  with  Terborch,  but  in  the 
unity  of  design  and  execution,  and  in  consummate 
mastery  of  handling,  he  was  equal  to  the  best. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  group  of  men  who 
formed  themselves  under  the  instruction  of  Rem- 
brandt's first  pupil,  Gerard  Dou,  Don's  most  gifted 
pupil  was  the  son  of  a  Leyden  goldsmith  and  dia- 
mond cutter.  Frans  van  Mieris  (163  5-1 681)  could 
never  be  induced  to  leave  his  native  city,  although 
his  success  made  the  Archduke  Leo|X)ld  invite  him 
to  come  to  Vienna.  His  works  are  generally  of 
small  size;  the  subjects,  taken  from  every-day  life 
among  the  upper  and  middle  classes,  display  great 


112  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Wetbcrlanb  (Balleries 

perception  of  character  and  a  considerable  sense 
of  humour.  Like  all  the  Dutch  painters  he  paid 
especial  attention  to  the  drawing  and  expression 
of  the  hands.  His  execution,  at  once  spirited,  and 
to  the  last  degree  refined,  vies  with  that  of  Metsu 
and  Dou.  The  vivacity  of  his  colour  and  his  ex- 
quisite technical  qualities  made  him  one  of  the 
most  popular  among  his  contemporaneous  brethren 
of  the  brush.  His  son  Willem  van  Mieris  (1662- 
1747),  who  formed  himself  entirely  on  his  father's 
example,  did  not  equal  him  in  colour  or  drawing. 
He  chose  his  subjects  aimong  small  tradespeople. 

More  elaborate  than  van  Mieris  was  one  of  Don's 
pupils,  Pieter  Cornelisz.  van  Slingeland  (1640- 
1691),  of  whom  it  was  said  that  he  spent  four 
years  to  paint  a  lace  jabot.  No  matter  how  de- 
tailed, his  artistry  was  very  choice  and  colourful. 
Dou  found  a  talented  follower  for  his  compositions 
with  candle  and  lamp  light  in  Godfried  Schalcken 
(1643-1706).  The  greater  part  of  his  life  he  spent 
at  Dordrecht,  although  he  was  employed  for  some 
time  in  England  by  King  William  HI,  and  at  Diis- 
seldorf  by  the  Elector  Johann  Wilhelm.  Besides 
his  candlelight  genre  he  painted  several  daylight 
effects,  and  also  some  larger  portraits.  He  could 
draw  well,  but  the  smooth,  polished  surface  of  his 
works  is  unpleasant,  and  the  labour  bestowed  upon 
them  too  obvious.     Less  noted  was  a  fellow  pupil. 


Xlbe  (5enre  painters  113 

Dominicus  van  Tol  (1635-1676),  of  whom  noth- 
ing is  known.  The  Six  collection  and  the  Leyden 
museum  have  characteristic  little  genres  of  his 
brush.  At  first  apprenticed  to  van  den  Tempel, 
we  find  Arie  de  Vois  (1631-1680)  soon  under 
Dou's  tuition.  His  examples  in  the  Ryksmuseum 
and  the  Mauritshuis  indicate  his  witty  drawing  and 
clear  colour  scheme.  He  married  rich,  which 
caused  him  to  neglect  his  easel  for  some  time,  but 
changed  circumstances  compelled  him,  after  ten 
years  of  dawdling,  to  take  up  again  his  palette  and 
brushes. 

One  of  the  greatest  masters  of  the  Dutch  school 
now  claims  our  attention.  Jan  Steen  (1626-1679), 
with  Hals  and  Ruisdael,  is  one  of  the  trio  who  fill 
the  second  step  below  Rembrandt's  supremacy,  as 
a  goodly  company  crowds  the  step  below  them. 
Did  not  Reynolds  compare  him  with  Raphael  in 
drawing,  Burger  with  Titian  in  colour?  and  will 
you  not  agree  with  me  that  Velasquez  never  painted 
a  dwarf  or  a  little  princess  better  than  we  see  in 
Steen's  "  Menagerie "  in  the  Mauritshuis  ?  Jan 
Steen  does  not  give  us  the  silks  and  satins  of  those 
who  occupy  the  seats  of  the  mighty,  as  Terborch 
or  Netscher  did;  just  the  plain  people  he  limns. 
But  this  roguish  Rabelais  of  the  brush  breathes  in 
all  his  work  such  waggish  wit,  such  droll  satire, 
such  whimsical,  good-natured  humour,  that  he  is 


114  ^bc  Hrt  of  tbe  •Retberlan&  (Balleries 

irresistible  in  attracting  us   to   him   by   bonds  of 
human  sympathy. 

The  many  tales  told  in  which  he  is  made  out 
as  a  debauched  profligate  and  "  ne'er  do  weel," 
a  typical  drunkard  such  as  his  brush  so  often  de- 
picts, one  who  spent  his  life  in  the  pursuit  of  pleas- 
ures of  the  lowest  kind,  taking  no  thought  for  the 
morrow  and  painting  only  when  debts  had  to  be 
paid,  rest  all  —  on  Houbraken  again.  A  man  who, 
in  a  comparatively  brief  career,  could  paint  nearly 
five  hundred  pictures,  while  the  last  he  painted 
bear  no  evidence  of  the  trembling  hand  of  intem- 
perance but  are  of  the  best  he  produced,  cannot 
have  been  what  his  denouncers  would  have  us 
think.  Even  his  financial  troubles  were  most 
caused  by  an  unfortunate  business  venture  and  by 
his  assuming  the  debts  of  his  father-in-law,  Jan  van 
Goyen  —  another  proof  of  his  kind-heartedness. 
He  was  a  genial,  jovial  fellow,  light-hearted  and 
fond  of  a  jolly  crowd  —  which  no  one  will  regret 
who  looks  at  his  portrayal  of  the  human  comedy. 
If  sometimes  he  is  a  little  coarse  and  vulgar  in  his 
chronicles  of  guilty  folly,  such  was  the  character 
of  his  period  and  his  surroundings,  and  we  offset 
it  by  his  rendering  of  the  sweetest  childhood  ever 
painted.  If  nothing  else,  he  would  be  the  chronicler 
of  child-life.  Van  Ostade  drew  infancy  and  child- 
hood, ill-shaped,  button-nosed,  stumpy  and  square, 


Ubc  Genre  painters  us 

already  worn  by  sad  experience ;  de  Hooch  painted 
them  as  little  housekeepers,  old  in  their  ways,  ta- 
king life  seriously.  Jan  Steen's  children  are  joy- 
ful, radiant,  arch  and  merry  —  young  and  luscious 
and  sweet.  He  must  have  had  and  kept,  under  all 
his  rollicking  boisterousness,  a  clean,  young  heart 
that  loved  the  pure  innocence  of  children's  joys. 

The  few  facts  concerning  his  life  are  soon  told. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  well-to-do  brewer  of  Leyden, 
who  first  sent  him  for  a  year  to  the  University, 
but  seeing  his  mistake,  let  Jan  have  his  bent  in  vari- 
ous studios.  He  was  with  a  German,  named  Knup- 
fer,  then  in  Haarlem  with  Adriaen  van  Ostade, 
also  watching  Frans  Hals,  and  last  with  Jan  van 
Goyen  in  The  Hague,  whose  daughter  he  married 
soon  after.  His  father,  hard-headed  business  man, 
did  not  take  much  stock  in  the  idea  of  the  ability 
of  an  artist  to  support  himself  by  his  brush  alone, 
so  he  settled  the  newly  married  couple  in  a  brewery 
in  Delft,  —  the  same  business  in  w*hich  he  himself 
had  prospered.  But  his  son  devoted  more  time  to 
his  easel  than  to  the  brewery,  except  to  utilize  the 
mise-en-scene  of  the  adjunct  tavern  for  the  setting 
of  his  pictures.  The  business  went  to  naught  and 
Jan  Steen,  loaded  with  debts,  to  which  those  of 
his  father-in-law  were  added,  had  to  call  on  his 
own  father  for  assistance.  For  a  i>eriod  of  eig^t 
years  he  resided  then  in  Haarlem,  where  his  best 


ii6  Ube  Hrt  of  tbc  "Wetberlanb  Galleries 

pictures  were  painted.  But  his  circumstances  re- 
mained straitened  by  sickness  in  his  family,  while 
his  paintings  sold  for  as  small  an  amount  as  twenty 
guilders  apiece,  rarely  for  as  much  as  fifty  guilders, 
for  his  townsmen  never  took  the  jolly  painter  or 
his  work  seriously.  In  1669  his  wife  died  and  was 
buried  in  Haarlem.  The  same  year  his  fatiher  died, 
and  our  painter  returned  with  his  children  to  Ley- 
den,  where  he  settled  in  the  house  wherein  he  was 
bom.  He  soon  obtained  permission  to  open  therein 
a  tavern,  over  which  he  established  his  second  wife, 
a  widow  of  easy  financial  circumstances.  In  this 
tavern,  which  he  frequently  painted,  we  see  him 
making  merry  with  his  boon  companions,  feasting 
and  revelling,  but  at  the  same  time  industriously 
working  at  his  art,  with  unfailing  powers,  to  the 
very  end. 

Jan  Steen  was  not  a  buffoon ;  on  the  contrary  he 
was  perhaps  the  most  intellectual  of  all  the  Dutch 
artists.  His  mentality  was  sympathetic,  philo- 
sophic, and  beneficent-satirical.  There  is  never  a 
sardonic,  malicious  sneer  on  his  lips,  but  in  the 
picturing  of  his  wildest  orgies  he  always  points  a 
moral,  plain  enough  that  he  who  runs  may  read. 
In  fact,  I  ascribe  the  apparent  carelessness  which 
we  sometimes  detect  in  his  work  to  his  being  car- 
ried away  by  his  ideas  to  the  detriment  of  his  exe- 
cution.    While  others  used  their  ideas  for  the  love 


tTbe  6enrc  painters  117 

of  painting,  he  used  painting-  merely  as  an  expres- 
sion of  the  boundless  wealth  of  his  unfettered, 
dramatic  imagination,  and  sometimes  his  painting 
had  to  suffer.  Mentally  he  is  on  a  par  with  Mo- 
liere,  Balzac,  Sterne,  or  Hogarth.  He  may  be 
variable  in  his  execution  —  the  genius  of  the  bom 
painter  is,  nevertheless,  always  apparent.  He  was 
a  fine  draughtsman,  giving  movement  to  his  figures, 
whereby  they  form  living  scenes  from  the  drama 
of  humanity.  He  was  an  excellent  colourist. 
Sometimes  his  colour  is  brilliant,  again  it  is  deep, 
strong  and  juicy,  while  his  treatment  of  light  and 
shade  makes  him  a  true  member  of  the  great  school 
to  which  he  belonged.  In  his  best  pictures  we  find 
a  combination  of  qualities  that  no  other  master  has 
ever  approached. 

Three  other  artists  were  in  van  Ostade's  studio 
whose  names  or  works  have  not  entirely  disap- 
peared. In  Quiryn  Brekelenkam  (16201668)  we 
note  the  anecdotal  features  of  his  small  composi- 
tions more  than  their  artistic  value.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  a  much  later  pupil,  Richard  Braken- 
burgh  (1650- 1 702),  who  shows  great  vivacity  in 
his  design,  but  lacks  definite  colour-sense.  Cor- 
nelis  Dusart  (1660-1704)  was  less  fine  or  forceful 
in  his  brushwork  than  his  master,  and  only  appeals 
by  the  truth  of  his  characterization.  He  generally 
kept  himself  to  tihe  tavern  for  his  models,  although 


ii8  Ube  Hrt  of  tbc  laetberlant)  ealleries 

the  little  panel  in  the  van  de  Poll  collection  in  the 
Ryksmuseum  is  filled  with  homely  beauty  and 
charm. 

A  son  of  the  landscai>e  painter  Aert  van  der 
Neer,  Eglon  Hendrik  van  der  Neer  (1635-1703), 
devoted  himself  to  genre,  in  whic'h  he  tried  to  imi- 
tate Terborch.  Johan  van  Huchtenburgh  (1646- 
i733)»  ^  pupil  of  Thomas  Wyck,  built  his  style 
chiefly  on  Wouwerman.  His  battle  scenes  are  the 
best  products  of  his  brush,  in  which,  however, 
Italian  and  French  influences  become  apparent. 

But  public  taste  was  declining,  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  acclaim  wherewith  the  work  was  received 
of  Adriaen  van  der  Werff  (1659- 1722).  He  re- 
ceived three  and  four  thousand  guilders  for  his 
slick,  fashionable  productions  at  the  time  that  Rem*- 
brandt's  work  had  gone  down  to  fifty  or  sixty 
guilders.  "  The  Repentant  Magdalene "  in  the 
Dresden  Gallery,  so  long  accredited  to  Correggio, 
but  now  cataloged  as  of  van  der  Werff's  School, 
may  well  be  of  his  own  brush.  It  is  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  smooth,  decorative,  namby-pamby 
art  in  which  he  revelled.  The  cold,  porcelain-like 
colour  and  mechanical  finish  of  this  artist  in  the 
treatment  of  the  nude  is  only  offset  by  a  general 
accomplishment  and  certainty  of  execution,  but  his 
style  is  entirely  vicious  and  conventional.  His 
brother  and  imitator,  Pieter  van  der  Werff  (1665- 


Ube  (Benre  painters  119 

1721),   has   left   a  number   of   conventional   por- 
traits. 

The  only  names  that  still  appeal  to  us  for  in- 
trinsic merit  are  those  of  de  Wit  and  Troost. 
Jacob  de  Wit  (1695-1754)  is  not  represented  in 
the  Dutch  galleries  by  his  easel  work,  but  his  re- 
markable so-called  "  Witjens,"  imitations  of  bas- 
relief  sculptures,  are  found  in  many  palaces,  muse- 
ums and  private  houses  as  wall  decorations.  He 
was  unexcelled  as  a  draughtsman,  his  proportions 
and  foreshortening,  in  monotone,  creating  an  illu- 
sion almost  deceptive.  Cornells  Troost  (1697- 
1750)  was  the  last  genre  painter.  His  colour  is 
bright  and  his  design  witty,  but  his  drawing  leaves 
much  to  be  desired.  He  gives,  however,  a  clear 
insight  of  i8th  century  manners,  as  they  had  be- 
come thoroughly  Frenchified.  His  pastels  in  the 
Mauritshuis  are  exceedingly  amusing. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE   LANDSCAPE    PAINTERS 

The  first  view  we  have  of  landscape  art  pure 
and  simple,  the  faithful  transcription  of  natural  ob- 
jects, is  given  us  by  the  Dutch  landscape  painters 
of  the  17th  century.  Even  Claude  Lorrain,  who 
rescued  landscape  painting  from  being  made  a  back- 
ground accessory,  as  it  had  been  done  from  the 
days  of  van  Eyck  to  Velasquez  and  by  all  the  Ital- 
ians,—  even  Claude  infused  too  much  idealism;  he 
composed  his  scenes,  helped  out  nature,  so  to  speak, 
and  his  landscapes  are  still  studio  products.  They 
do  not  smell  of  dew  and  flowers,  of  the  exuding 
breath  of  trees  and  of  clods  of  earth. 

The  Dutch  artists  were  the  first  to  give  a  dis- 
tinctive character  to  landscape  painting.  They 
were  marvellous  interpreters  of  nature.  They  were 
the  first  realists,  depicting  nature  for  its  own 
beauty,  its  own  spirit.  Through  van  Goyen  and 
Wynants  to  Aelbert  Cuyp,  then  on  to  Jacob  van 
Ruisdael  and  Hobbema,  —  these  are  the  men  who 

120 


;>                                                      '   '  •  1 

\  F 

t,  im  al 

•*^^*^     M. 

i[f^ 

^'^ju^tKUfWI^ 

f^W^^^!7% 

ADRIAEN 
VAN  OSTADE 


THE   FIDDLER 

Plate  XVI 

(.See  page  319) 


Mauritshuis 
The  Hague 


Ube  Xanbscape  painters  121 

revealed  nature  strongly,  sanely,  largely.  The  im- 
palpable, limitless  sky,  the  enveloping  atmosphere, 
the  breaking  tints  of  sun-chased  clouds,  the  turbu- 
lent waters  or  calm,  transparent  streams,  the  green, 
the  brown,  the  gold  of  foliage  or  harvest,  —  all  this 
they  portrayed.  And  Constable,  the  Barbizon  men, 
even  the  light  painters  of  the  "  Impressionists " 
have  learned  from  them. 

The  first  steps  to  turn  from  the  Italian  interpre- 
tation of  landscape,  as  taught  by  Elsheimer  or  by 
his  heavy  counterpart,  Salvator  Rosa,  were  hesita- 
ting and  often  failing.  But  Jan  Gerritsz.  Cuyp 
(1575- 1 651),  the  father  of  Aelbert  Cuyp,  whose 
only  works  in  the  Netherland  Galleries  are  por- 
traits, essayed  to  show  also  the  rich,  characterful 
life  of  nature  with  its  wealth  of  beauty.  His  first 
instruction  was  received  from  Abraham  Bloemaert, 
but  his  independent  development  was  not  con- 
strained, and  he  left  the  imaginary  world  of  his 
master's  composing  for  one  of  the  reality  of  life. 
Esaias  van  de  Velde  (1590- 1630),  of  Haarlem, 
also  chose  these  subjects,  still  replete  with  human 
activity,  but  at  the  same  time  with  an  outdoor  feel- 
ing that  was  setting  the  mark  for  larger  expres- 
sion. His  few  pictures  that  remain  give  us  scenes 
of  wars  and  fairs  and  portraits,  but  always  with 
intimate,  local  landscape  settings,  and  no  longer 
with  an  exotic,  garish  Italian  sky. 


122  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  'Hetberlant)  Galleries 

Jan  van  Goyen  (1596- 1656)  was  the  first  to 
choose  landscape  art  for  itself  alone.  He  was  born 
in  Leyden,  where  he  received  his  first  instructions 
from  the  talented  burgomaster  Izaak  Klaasz.  van 
Swanenburg-h,  whose  son  was  to  teach  Rembrandt 
the  first  rudiments  of  his  profession.  After  a  visit 
to  France  in  16 15  he  completed  his  years  of  pupil- 
age under  Esaias  van  de  Velde  at  Haarlem.  While 
his  stay  there  was  of  short  duration  its  effect  was 
not  transient,  for  after  returning  to  Leyden  he 
painted  for  some  time  in  his  master's  finicky  n  ^n- 
ner.  He  chose,  more  than  Cuyp  or  van  de  Velde, 
to  portray  with  truthful  fidelity  the  picturesque 
scenery  of  land  and  stream,  and  trees  and  cabins, 
although  he  never  could  quite  sever  himself  from 
the  pleasure  of  allowing  animals  and  figures  to 
play  an  important  role.  Gradually  he  became 
broader  and  freer  in  his  treatment,  and  liberated 
himself  from  the  conventional  manner  to  adopt  one 
thoroug'hly  his  own.  This  evolution  was  mani- 
fested chiefly  in  the  gradual  subordination  of  col- 
our to  tone.  He  kept  himself  to  a  brown  or  gray 
key,  with  tones  between,  sometimes  leaning  towards 
a  reddish  warm-'yellow,  then  again  towards  a 
bleached-yellow,  gray-green,  or  bluish  gray.  Al- 
though this  peculiar,  individual  refinement  leaves 
him  open  to  the  charge  of  mannerism,  it  yet  invests 
his  works  with  a  special  charm.     Whether  in  more 


Ubc  Xan^Bcape  painters  123 

or  less  placid  marines,  where  tall  craft  float  lazily 
on  the  water,  or  in  quiet  riverside  perspectives,  or 
in  quaint  village  views,  or  in  large  stretches  of 
flat  country,  or  in  undulations  of  the  gray  dunes, 
no  heavy  dark,  no  bright  colour  disturbs  the  mono- 
tone. In  his  division  of  light  he  affected  to  use  a 
dark  spot  in  the  foreground,  a  boat  or  piece  of  land 
or  a  shadow,  to  push  even  farther  back  the  lighter 
background  and  the  horizon;  a  manner  which 
afterwards  was  frequently  followed  by  other  land- 
scapists,  and  only  discarded  by  Rembrandt  as  un- 
necessary. 

Van  Goyen  remained  for  several  years  at  Ley- 
den,  where  Jan  Steen  became  his  pupil  and  son-in- 
law,  afterwards  he  went  to  The  Hague,  where  the 
luxurious  court  of  Frederik  Hendrik  offered  him 
an  abundant  outlet  for  his  prolific  energy.  While 
there  he  greatly  influenced  Sybrand  van  Beest 
(1610-1674),  of  whom  nothing  is  known. 

Roeland  Roghman  (1597-1687)  was  less  in- 
clined to  garnish  his  landscapes.  A  journey  to 
the  Alpine  regions  impressed  him  with  the  sterner 
features  of  natural  scenery,  and  he  applied  their 
loneliness  to  his  views  of  his  native  heath.  He 
is  true  to  natural  forms,  but  his  colour  is  dark  and 
disagreeable.  He  excelled  more  in  his  drawings 
and  etchings,  which  were  greatly  admired  by  Rem- 
brandt, and  of  which  a  number  remain,  but  his 


124  Ubc  art  ot  tbe  Betberlan^  Galleries 

paintings  are  rare.  Hendrik  Avercamp  (1585- 
1663),  called  "  de  Stomme  van  Kampen,"  a  deaf- 
mute,  early  showed  his  artistic  talents,  which  he 
developed  to  great  proficiency  to  depict  the  popu- 
lous winterscapes  of  Dutch  canals.  A  busy,  motley 
throng  of  skaters  and  sledgers,  burgher  and  boor, 
show  life  and  motion  in  the  still,  freezing  air  under 
the  thinly-veiled  sky.  He  still  lacks  the  refined 
modulations  of  tints  and  the  delicacy  of  aerial  per- 
spective which  developed  later. 

Also  in  Haarlem-country,  the  flower-garden  of 
Holland,  with  its  beautiful,  wooded  lanes  and  roll- 
ing duneland,  we  find  the  early  men  of  the  art  of 
the  paysagiste.  The  London-born  Pieter  Molyn 
(1600- 1 661)  became  a  member  of  the  Guild  of 
Haarlem  in  1616,  and  soon  was  called  a  "  konstryk 
schilder,"  an  artistic  painter.  His  work,  after  van 
Goyen's  manner,  is  distinguished  by  suppleness  of 
handling,  broad  and  striking  treatment  and  truth- 
ful conception.  He  frankly  turned  to  the  surround- 
ing country  for  inspiration,  eschewing  Italian  ex- 
amples, and  exercised  great  influence  on  the  Haar- 
lem school.  Seven  years  after  him  Salomo  van 
Ruysdael  (1600 1670)  was  entered  in  the  Guild. 
He  came  from  Naarden,  Whence  his  younger 
brother  Izaak  had  "preceded  him  to  deal  in  art. 
Salomo  furnisihed  his  pictures  with  the  human  ele- 
ment, but  the  landscape  was  to  him  the  principal 


Ubc  XanOscape  painters  125 

part,  much  more  than  was  the  case  with  van  Goyen. 
His  artistry  justifies  the  assumption  that,  Hke  van 
Goyen,  he  emanated  from  the  school  of  Esaias  van 
de  Velde,  At  first  their  art  ran  on  parallel  lines, 
Salome's  being"  somewhat  cooler  in  colour.  About 
middle  age  he  widened  his  horizon,  became  firmer 
of  hand  and  stronger  in  colour.  Still  later  we  find 
him  endeavouring  to  emulate  his  nephew,  the  re- 
nowned Jacob,  but  with  little  success.  One  of  his 
finest  pieces,  now  in  the  Dupper  collection,  dates 
from  this  last  period.  His  fame  has  unfortunately 
been  greatly  overshadowed  by  Jacob,  but  of  late 
years  he  has  been  justly  honoured  for  his  attain- 
ments. Another  Haarlem  painter,  Frans  de  Hulst 
(died  1661),  is  less  known,  only  two  of  his  land- 
scapes being  found  in  a  public  gallery,  the  one  in 
Rotterdam.  One  of  the  greatest  of  this  Haarlem 
school  of  landscape  painters  was  Jan  Wynants 
(1620- 1 682),  who  showed  originality  in  the  selec- 
tion of  his  subjects.  He  favoured  open  scenery 
where,  under  a  sky  of  summer  blue,  broken  by  il- 
luminated cloud-masses,  the  undulating  soil  is 
seamed  by  beaten  tracks  and  rugged  roads  with 
their  shelving  sides  of  gold-coloured  sand,  while 
trees  are  scattered  thinly  on  the  slopes.  Or  he  loved 
the  borders  of  the  forest  where  mighty  tree-trunks, 
smitten  by  past  storms,  still  extend  some  gnarled 
branches  across   the  sky.     He  always  gives  the 


126  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  iaetberlan&  Oalleries 

poetry  of  form  and  light  with  grace  and  charm. 
Unfortunately  many  of  his  works,  as  has  been  the 
case  with  some  of  the  other  Dutch  painters,  have 
suffered  by  decomposition  of  pigment  or  glazes, 
whereby  his  bright,  fresh  greens  have  become  dark, 
heavy  and  flat,  destroying  the  harmony  of  colour. 
Another  Haarlem  painter  was  Gillis  Rombouts,  of 
whom  we  only  know  that  he  still  worked  about 
1661.  Only  one  of  his  landscapes  is  to  be  seen, 
in  the  Six  collection.  As  little  we  know  of  Abra- 
ham Hendriksz.  Verboom  (i628?-i670?),  of 
whom  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam  have  each  one 
landscape.  He  comes  nearer  to  the  work  of  Jacob 
van  Ruisdael  than  any  of  his  contemporaries,  a 
landscape  in  Dresden,  ascribed  to  Jacob,  being  more 
likely  from  his  brush.  Izaak  van  Ostade  (1621- 
1649),  ^  pupil  of  his  elder  brother  Adriaen,  lived 
and  died  at  Haarlem.  He  had  equal  ability  in  fig- 
ures and  landscapes,  at  first  following  his  brother's 
interiors,  but  later  going  out-of-doors  for  inspira- 
tion. His  brushing  is  not  as  minute  as  his 
brother's,  showing  greater  breadth  and  freedom. 
In  his  winter  scenes  he  gives  animated  views  of 
the  life  and  enjoyment  to  which  the  frozen  rivers 
and  canals  of  Holland  give  play.  His  works,  es- 
pecially his  summerscapes,  have  also  suffered  by 
discoloration.  He  made  the  most  of  his  short 
career  and  was  very  productive.    In  Delft  we  must 


Ubc  Xan^scape  painters  127 

yet  notice  Egbert  van  der  Poel  (i  621-1664),  who 
painted  rustic  interiors,  views  of  towns  and  dunes, 
often  with  effects  of  moonhght,  but  who  is  best 
known  by  his  depiction  of  conflagrations,  to  which 
he  was  inspired  by  the  powder  explosion  at  Delft 
in  1854. 

The  glowing  painter  of  Dutch  landscape,  the 
sunny-hearted,  was  Aelbert  Cuyp  (1620-1691). 
The  calm,  and  briglitly  lighted  countryside,  the 
atmospheric  effect  of  hazy  mornings,  the  golden 
mantle  of  eventide,  warm  summer  skies  reflected  in 
an  expanse  of  water  overspread  with  sailing  craft, 
or  the  polders  and  meadows  near  his  beloved  Dord- 
recht —  he  loved  to  paint  these,  and  did  it  mas- 
terly. So  many-sided  was  his  talent,  that  the  cattle 
he  placed  on  the  sward  raised  him  to  foremost  rank 
among  animal  painters.  And  when  in  early  years 
he  painted  still  life,  game,  fruit,  and  fish,  he  showed 
a  skill,  a  refinement,  a  feeling  for  texture  and 
colour,  which  places  him  above  any  of  the  artists 
who  devoted  themselves  exclusively  to  such  themes. 
But  in  landscape  he  excelled,  with  such  simplicity, 
such  lack  of  pretension  or  effort,  such  happy,  un- 
studied combinations  of  arrangement,  that  his  art 
must  be  considered  almost  equal  to  that  of  Ruis- 
dael.  Nay,  it  possesses  at  first  even  greater  attrac- 
tiveness, inasmuch  as  Ruisdael  with  his  gigantic 
strength  often  produces  a  sense  of  gloom  and  soli- 


128  Ube  art  of  tbe  •ttetberlan&  Galleries 

tude,  while  Cuyp  with  more  poetic  spirit  leads  our 
minds  to  light  and  joy.  His  works  are  pastoral 
poems.  Learning  from  his  father,  he  was  soon 
independent  and  original,  and  expanded  by  the  light 
of  his  own  genius.  Nevertheless,  he  was  not  at 
first  recognized  by  his  countrymen,  and  although 
some  magnificent  examples  of  his  art  are  in  the 
Netherland  Galleries,  many  more  are  in  foreign 
collections,  notably  in  England. 

One  who  formed  himself  by  the  example  of  Cuyp 
and  of  Salomo  van  Ruysdael  was  the  Amsterdam- 
mer  Aert  van  der  Neer  (1603-1677).  He  painted 
waterscapes,  by  preference  reflecting  silvery  moon- 
light, or  the  fiery  glow  of  a  conflagration,  and  also 
winter  scenes  with  figures  on  the  ice.  In  his  latest 
years  he  became  somewhat  superficial,  but,  bar  this, 
his  touch  was  dainty  and  spirited.  Strangely  he  was 
without  recognition  during  his  life  and  died  very 
poor.  We  must  yet  note  in  Utrecht  Cornells  Saft- 
leven  (1606-1681),  a  scholar  in  van  Goyen's  studio, 
who  painted  agreeable  little  river  views  with  a  fine 
brush.  His  art,  though  conventional,  is  delightful 
in  its  way.  He  also  devoted  himself  to  portraiture 
and  allegory. 

We  find  now  gradually  a  tendency  appearing 
among  some  of  the  younger  men  to  travel  to  Italy, 
where  they  became  naturally  influenced  in  their  pre- 
sentation of  nature  by  the  Southern  spirit.     The 


GERRIT 
DOU 


THE  YOUNG   MOTHER 

Plate   XVII 
(,See   page   325) 


Mauritshuis 
The  Hague 


Ube  Xanbscape  |>ainters  129 

landscape  school  of  the  century  becomes  now  di- 
vided between  those  who  were  independent  and 
national,  and  those  who  became  Italianized,  and 
were  the  cause  of  the  ultimate  decadence  of  the  art 
of  that  glorious  age.  The  beginning  of  landscape 
painting  in  its  truly  national  form  has  now  been 
discussed ;  we  will  continue  this  thread  by  following 
those  who  remained  true  to  their  country,  among 
whom  the  greatest  of  all  are  to  be  found.  After- 
wards we  will  return  to  those  who  submitted  to 
foreign  influences. 

Filips  Koninck  (1619-1688),  born  in  Amster- 
dam, studied  with  Rembrandt  and  devoted  himself 
most  to  landscape,  only  a  few  portraits  by  him 
being  known.  He  received  from  his  master  that 
prepossession  for  distance  and  perspective  which  is 
so  noticeable  in  Rembrandt's  "  Three  Trees."  His 
expansive  views,  embracing  great  tracts  of  country, 
as  seen  from  a  height,  with  the  sand-dunes  in  the 
far  distance  lighted  by  gleams  of  sunshine  against 
gray  rolling  clouds,  are  distinguished  by  much 
grandeur  of  conception  and  by  richness  and  truth 
of  colouring.  His  pictures  are  rare  in  the  great 
continental  collections. 

Allert  van  Everdingen  (1621-1675)  studied  in 
Haarlem  and  devoted  himself  to  landscape,  but 
painted  also  sea  pieces  and  storms  with  surprising 
effect,   and   represented   the   tempest-tossed   waves 


130  Ube  art  ot  tbe  "Hetberlan^  Oalleries 

with  awful  and  terrific  fidelity.  His  love  for  the 
sea  led  him  to  take  a  voyage  to  the  Baltic  with  a 
friendly  captain  —  a  fateful  voyage,  for  he  suffered 
shipwreck.  Still  he  was  amply  repaid  by  the  pro- 
found impression  the  rocky  coast  of  Norway  made 
on  him.  While  waiting  for  repairs  to  the  vessel 
he  sketched  assiduously  the  romantic  wilds  of  those 
regions,  the  grand  forms  of  rocks,  and  the  pic- 
turesque waterfalls.  On  his  return  he  was  com- 
pletely enamoured  with  what  he  had  seen,  ^.nd 
working  out  his  sketches,  he  was  soon  called  the 
"  Salvator  Rosa  of  the  North."  It  is  most  likely 
that  to  him  is  owing  the  desire  for  those  waterfalls 
and  solitary  woodlands  wherewith  his  more  famous 
townsman  Jacob  van  Ruisdael  varied  his  local 
scenes.  Allert's  paintings  are  very  attractive.  His 
colouring  is  simple  and  pure,  his  touch  broad  and 
facile,  and  his  scenes  are  full  of  out-of-doors. 

Jacob  van  Ruisdael  (1628- 1682)  was  destined  to 
be  the  greatest  exponent  of  landscape  art,  the  mas- 
ter at  whose  feet  all  posterity  have  sat  for  guidance 
and  inspiration,  through  whom  Constable  became 
the  bright  glory  of  English  landscape  painting,  as 
Constable  again  let  his  mantle  fall  on  the  Barbizon 
group,  of  whom  the  men  of  to-day  have  been  dis- 
ciples. But  Ruisdael  was  the  first.  As  Rembrandt 
by  a  flash  of  his  will  brought  forth  the  glory  of 
chiaroscuro,  so  Ruisdael  was  the  first  to  interpret 


Ubc  XanbBcape  painters  131 

the  harmonious  chords,  major  and  minor,  of  na- 
ture's sympathy,  and  infuse  his  own  soul  subject- 
ively into  the  interpretation. 

But  little  is  known  of  the  life  of  Jacob  van  Ruis- 
dael.  Houbraken  has  of  course  a  number  of  legends 
to  retail  which  are  of  no  account,  as  usual.  The 
few  facts  have  been  gathered  by  Immerzeel,  Burger, 
van  der  Willigen,  Bredius,  Michel,  Bode,  and  others. 
We  know  that  he  was  born  in  Haarlem,  the  son  of 
Izaak,  the  framemaker  and  picture  dealer,  and  the 
nephew  of  Salomo  van  Ruysdael.  Izaak  and  Sa- 
lome had  each  a  son  named  Jacob,  who  both  be- 
came painters.  Salomo's  son  lacked  talent  and 
remained  obscure,  Izaak's  son  Jacob  became  the 
foremost  of  Holland's  landscapists.  It  is  plausible 
to  assume  that  Jacob  van  Ruisdael  adopted  the 
spelling  of  his  name  by  changing  the  double  i,  or  y, 
into  a  single  i  to  distinguish  his  work  from  that  of 
his  uncle  and  cousin.  It  is  supposed  that  Jacob 
at  first  studied  surgery.  A  most  likely  supposition, 
for  in  Holland  a  thorough  course  in  botany  pre- 
cedes the  study  of  medicine,  and  that  Ruisdael  was 
a  botanist  is  fully  proved  by  his  impeccable  render- 
ing of  vegetation,  of  trees,  plants  and  flowers.  His 
artistic  talents,  however,  being  discovered  by 
Berchem,  he  entered  his  uncle  Salomo's  studio,  and 
later  studied  with  van  Everdingen.  He  moved  to 
Amsterdam,  where  he  met  with  indifferent  success. 


132  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbc  laetberlanD  Galleries 

After  having  given  marvellous  views  of  his  own 
country  he  commenced  in  desperation  to  produce 
those  wild  scenes  of  mountain  torrents  dashing  over 
rocks,  with  which  his  master  van  Everdingen  had 
struck  the  popular  fancy.  A  trip  to  the  northern 
forests  of  Germany  gave  him  his  material,  for  in 
several  of  his  paintings  we  recognize  the  pic- 
turesque old  castle  of  Bentheim,  in  the  province 
of  Hanover.  Although  his  work  of  this  kind  is 
superior  to  that  of  Hobbema,  he  still  remained  un- 
appreciated and,  despite  his  productiveness,  for  over 
450  of  his  works  are  cataloged,  he  came  to  want. 
The  members  of  the  Mennonite  community  of 
Amsterdam,  of  which  sect  he  was  a  member,  se- 
cured admission  for  him  in  the  almshouse  of  Haar- 
lem in  1 68 1,  where  he  died  the  following  year. 

The  weight  of  genius  overcomes  all  cavilling. 
While  studying  van  Ruisdael's  masterly  work 
it  may  occur  to  us  that  his  handling  lacks  the 
vivacity  of  Jan  Steen's,  or  the  facility  of  Frans 
Hals,  or  the  force  of  Rembrandt;  that  his  colour 
has  little  brilliancy,  and  is  not  always  agreeable; 
that  his  palette  is  parsimonious  and  limited.  Withal 
his  paintings  surpass  anything  that  has  ever  been 
produced  in  landscape  art,  because  they  are  the 
work  of  a  man  who  expresses  some  lofty  and  sus- 
tained thought  in  the  most  forceful  language.  They 
are  the  work  of  a  man  of  mighty  mind  who  thinks, 


Zbc  XanDscape  painters  133 

and  is  unique  in  his  expression.  He  has  a  style, 
imposing,  dignified,  all  his  own;  one  which  scorns 
the  superfluous,  the  useless,  the  merely  pleasing. 
He  shows  himself  simple,  serious,  strong,  with 
sustained  force. 

The  greatness  of  Jacob  van  Ruisdael  is  founded 
on  the  subjectiveness  of  his  art.  We  discover  in  his 
work  the  domination  of  his  own  personality,  some- 
what melancholy,  loving  solitude,  musing.  A  nat- 
ural temperament  of  the  kind  would  with  his  con- 
tinual financial  privation  make  a  man  gloomy 
enough.  We  must  not  consider  the  unchanging 
tenor  of  his  subjects  as  a  limitation  —  it  was  in- 
clination. He  saw  the  full  bright  tones  of  sunlight 
all  about  him,  but  he  also  saw  the  dark  and  cloudy 
days,  of  which  Holland  has  more  than  clear  ones, 
and  he  preferred  the  broken  and  diffused  light  and 
gray  halftones.  He  was  more  moved  by  the  sight 
of  a  stormy  sky  and  the  shudder  of  great  trees  tor- 
tured by  the  gale.  Just  as  that  other  great  sub- 
jective painter,  Corot,  loved  the  pale  light  and 
silver-gray  of  the  dawn  in  preference  to  the  noon- 
day sun.  In  both  cases  it  was  not  a  limitation  of 
vision,  but  a  choice  of  sentiment.  We  even  can  see 
this  in  the  few  sea  pieces  van  Ruisdael  painted, 
which  always  have  a  dark  sky,  threatening  tempest, 
agitated,  sometimes  raging. 

But  above  all  van  Ruisdael  was  the  discoverer 


134  ^be  Hrt  ot  tbe  IRetbeclanC)  Oallerics 

that  two-thirds  of  all  landscape  is  sky.  He  was 
the  first  great  skypainter.  He  unfurls  the  dome  of 
heaven  more  magnificently  than  had  ever  been  done 
before.  Nor  had  his  keen  observancy  of  the  sky- 
scape ever  been  surpassed,  rarely  reached.  He 
painted  the  cloud- forms,  wrought  with  approaching 
storm  or  fleecy  with  caressing  lightness;  like  bur- 
nished silver  or  opaque  with  hidden  thunder;  shed- 
ding light  upon  the  earth  by  reflection  and  refrac- 
tion; or  a  solid  mass  like  an  immense  vault,  an 
actual  ceiling  —  his  sky  is  always  an  integral  and 
most  important  part  of  his  vision.  No  better  com- 
parison between  van  Ruisdael  and  other  landscapists 
has  ever  been  made  than  by  Eugene  Fromentin. 
**  Alongside  of  van  Ruisdael,"  he  writes,  "  a  beauti- 
ful Adriaen  van  de  Velde  is  thin,  pretty,  affected, 
never  very  vigorous,  nor  very  mature;  a  Willem 
van  de  Velde  is  dry,  cold,  and  weak,  almost  always 
well  drawn  but  rarely  well  painted,  showing  quick 
observation  but  little  thought.  Izaak  van  Ostade 
is  too  ruddy  and  his  skies  are  insignificant.  Van 
Goyen  is  far  too  uncertain,  too  volatile,  flighty  and 
soft;  his  light  and  rapid  brushwork  shows  a  good 
intention  —  the  sketch  charming,  but  the  finished 
work  amounts  to  nothing  because  there  were  no 
substantial  preparatory  studies  to  lead  up  to  it,  no 
patience  nor  labour.  Even  Cuyp,  so  strong  and 
sane,  suffers  perceptibly  by  this  severe  propinquity. 


Ubc  Xan&6cape  painters  135 

There  is  a  gayety  in  his  perpetual  gold  of  which 
one  wearies  when  compared  with  the  sombre,  bluish 
verdure  of  his  great  rival;  and  as  to  the  rich 
warmth  of  his  atmosphere,  which  seems  a  reflec- 
tion borrowed  from  the  South  to  embellish  these 
northern  landscapes,  one  questions  its  fidelity  to 
nature,  even  if  one  has  but  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  the  shores  of  the  Maas  or  the  Zuyder  Zee." 
It  is  no  wonder  that  with  such  power,  such  sterling 
worth  Jacob  van  Ruisdael's  influence  on  posterity 
has  been  in  landscape  art  as  great  as  Rembrandt's 
influence  has  been  in  the  solution  of  the  problems 
of  light  and  shade. 

Meindert  Hobbema  (1638- 1709),  van  Ruisdael's 
pupil  and  friend,  was  equally  neglected  during  his 
lifetime.  He  died  poor,  his  pictures,  if  sold,  fetched 
but  a  few  guilders,  so  that  most  of  those  now 
extant  are  found  in  England.  Only  a  few,  but 
these  of  the  best,  are  found  in  the  Dutch  Galleries. 
His  landscapes  are  somewhat  brighter  in  tone  than 
his  master's,  and  more  indigenous  to  the  soil,  his 
waterfalls  being  confined  to  the  spattering  foam 
tumbling  from  a  water-wheel.  Wooded  dells,  often 
sunny,  with  an  occasional  pool  of  water,  or  a  mill 
were  his  favourite  haunts,  which  he  portrayed  with 
genuine  simplicity,  brightened  by  a  casual  flicker 
and  flash  that  is  exceedingly  attractive. 

The  son  of  the  elder,  and  brother  of  the  younger 


136  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  •Wetberlan&  Galleries 

Willem,  Adriaen  van  de  Velde  (1635-1672),  was 
born  in  Amsterdam,  where  his  studies  were  first 
directed  by  his  father,  and  later  by  Wynants.  This 
excellent  artist  was  equally  proficient  in  painting 
landscape,  coast  views,  domestic  animals,  and  hu- 
man figures.  Many  of  his  figures  in  landscapes  by 
van  Ruisdael,  van  der  Heyden,  Hobbema,  Hack- 
aert,  and  others  add  to  their  interest  and  value. 
His  sense  of  tone  and  colour  is  to  be  admired,  as 
well  as  his  delicacy  of  form  and  outline.  He  shows 
a  wonderful  subtlety  in  the  gradation  of  almost 
neutral  hues.  His  sandy  coast  scenes  have  air, 
space  and  perspective,  of  which  we  find  an  exquisite 
example  in  the  Six  collection,  full  of  poetic  feeling. 
Less  assertive  and  masterful  than  van  Ruisdael  or 
Hobbema,  he  nevertheless  pleases  by  his  truth  and 
refinement.  Jan  Hackaert  (1629- 1699),  although 
formed  in  Germany  and  Italy,  retained  his  love  for 
his  own  land,  and  expressed  this  on  national  lines. 
Only  a  few  of  his  southern  views  are  found  in 
Berlin  and  elsewhere.  The  examples  we  see  in  the 
Netherland  Galleries  are  pure  in  native  inspiration. 
The  Wood  near  The  Hague  was  his  principal 
sketching  ground.  A  less  known  Amsterdam  artist, 
Jan  van  Kessel  (1641-1698),  is  reminiscent  of  van 
Ruisdael  and  Hobbema.  Rotterdam  has  two  of  his 
best  and  most  characteristic  canvases.  An  earlier 
townsman    of    his,    Jan    van    Beerstraten    (1622- 


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Ci  te; 
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tq  tq 


Ube  XanC>0cape  patnters  137 

1666),  painted  sea  views  and  townscapes.  The 
one  in  the  Ryksmuseum  gives  a  fair  idea  of  his 
craftsmanship,  with  great  harmony  of  colour,  and 
fine  contrast  of  light  and  shade,  Lingelbach  usu- 
ally supplied  his  figures.  Other  street  views  were 
painted  by  van  der  Heyden  and  Berckheyden.  Jan 
van  der  Heyden  (1637-1712),  despite  being  an 
artist,  was  a  very  practical  man,  since  he  made  him- 
self meritorious  by  introducing  the  use  of  street- 
lamps,  and  by  inventing  the  fire-engine.  He  had 
a  fine  sense  of  linear  and  aerial  perspective,  and  the 
delicate  minuteness  of  detail  in  his  pictures  is  al- 
ways kept  in  subordination  to  the  general  effect. 
In  broader  manner,  but  less  forceful  and  clear,  and 
somewhat  drier,  are  the  city  views  by  Gerrit  Berck- 
heyden (1638- 1 698),  who  favoured  especially  the 
market-place  of  Haarlem  with  old  St.  Bavo.  He 
painted  sometimes  in  co-operation  with  his  elder 
brother  Job  (1630- 1693),  who  often  depicted  the 
old  "Beurs"  (Exchange)  at  Amsterdam.  Little 
is  known  of  Willem  Gillis  Kool,  who  died  in  Haar- 
lem in  1666,  nor  of  Adriaen  Cornelisz.  Beeldemaker 
(1630-1680),  who  excelled  in  painting  boar  and 
stag  hunts,  generally  of  small  dimensions.  Dirk 
van  Bergen  (1640-1690)  was  a  landscape  and  ani- 
mal painter,  and  a  pupil  of  Adriaen  van  de  Velde, 
whom  he  imitated. 

Thus  far  have  we  followed  the  men  who  contin- 


138  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  Tlctbcrlant)  Oallerles 

ued  the  art  of  landscape  painting  in  truly  national 
manner,  as  van  Goyen,  Wynants  and  Cuyp  had 
done  before  them.  We  will  now  follow  the  line  of 
those  who  were  led  to  apply  foreign  instruction  to 
local  scenery,  resulting  in  enigmatical  inconsist- 
encies, falling  in  the  same  slough  in  which  Els- 
heimer's  example  had  led  Poelenburg,  Lastman  and 
others  a  half -century  before. 

The  first  of  these  were  the  brothers  Both,  Jan 
and  Andries,  the  strongest  of  those  that  follow, 
because  still  retaining  some  of  their  racial  char- 
acteristics. Jan  Both  (1610-1652)  was  born  in 
Utrecht,  where  he  and  his  brother  Andries  received 
their  first  instruction  from  Abraham  Bloemaert. 
They  often  co-operated  in  painting  pictures,  and 
all  their  lives  were  inseparable.  They  travelled 
through  France,  where  they  were  much  influenced 
by  Claude  Lorrain's  work,  and  then  to  Italy.  Jan 
executed  there  his  glowing  landscapes,  in  which 
Andries  put  the  human  element.  These  figures  in 
no  way  intrude  on  the  enchanting  effect  of  the 
landscape.  In  this  beautiful  scenery  we  must  some- 
times admire  the  freshness  of  nature  enlivened  by 
the  first  beams  of  the  rising  sun,  at  other  the  bril- 
liant glow  of  its  meridian  splendour,  and  then  again 
contemplate  the  rich  tintings  of  the  Italian  evening 
sky.  The  younger  brother  was  accidentally 
drowned  in  one  of  the  canals  of  Venice,  Jan  sur- 


Ube  Xanbscapc  painters  139 

viving  him  by  two  years.  Adriaen  Bloemaert 
(1609-1666),  fourth  son  of  Abraham,  went  with 
them  to  Italy,  afterwards  travelHng  to  Vienna.  He 
was  killed  in  a  duel  at  Salzburg,  leaving  some  land- 
scapes, of  which  only  two  are  found  in  Dutch  Gal- 
leries. Jan  Both's  pupil,  Willem  de  Heusch  (1638- 
1669),  painted  entirely  in  his  master's  manner. 
Emanuel  Murant  (1622-1700),  of  whom  a  picture 
is  found  in  Rotterdam,  was  a  pupil  of  Wouwer- 
man  before  he  went  South.  His  work  is  executed 
with  careful  minuteness  and  enlivened  by  skilfully 
introduced  cattle  and  figures.  His  delicacy  of  han- 
dling is  combined  with  warm  colouring.  Works 
by  this  master  are  not  frequently  met  with. 

Nicolas  Berchem  (1620- 1683),  Haarlem-born, 
was  a  pupil  of  van  Goyen  and  of  Moeyaert,  and 
at  first  painted  seaports  and  embarkations.  After 
his  return  from  Italy  he  settled  in  Amsterdam, 
where  his  improvident  habits  and  his  penchant  to 
purchase  Italian  drawings  extravagantly,  caused 
his  wife  to  take  charge  of  the  exchequer,  allowing 
him  a  few  florins  at  a  time  for  pocket  money.  At 
the  height  of  his  reputation,  in  1665,  he  sold  his 
labour  from  early  morning  until  four  in  the  after- 
noon for  10  florins  a  day.  He  adopted  his  surname 
from  the  nickname  he  received  on  account  of  the 
mountains  (Dutch:  Bergen)  which  always  appear 
in  his  pictures.    These  pictures  are  remarkable  for 


140  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  •fletberlan&  (Ballcries 

their  tasteful  composition,  enriched  with  architec- 
tural ruins,  and  enlivened  by  charming  groups  of 
figures  and  cattle.  They  are  carefully  finished  and 
at  the  same  time  free  in  handling,  with  a  warm 
colour  scheme  and  brilliant  lighting.  He  almost 
reached,  but  did  not  quite  equal  the  work  of  his 
contemporary  Jan  Both.  His  pupil,  Karel  du  Jar- 
din  (1622- 1 678),  studied  in  Italy,  was  in  The 
Hague  from  1656  to  1659,  where  he  was  much  in- 
fluenced by  Paul  Potter,  and  then  removed  to  Am- 
sterdam. He  remained  there  for  fifteen  years,  but 
finally  returned  to  his  early  haunts,  and  died  in 
Venice.  He  was  the  most  talented  of  Berchem's 
many  pupils.  His  attempts  at  portraiture  were  dry 
and  dull,  but  he  was  more  successful  in  his  small 
landscapes,  which  are  thoroughly  Italian  in  con- 
ception, with  warmth  and  brilliancy  of  atmosphere, 
and  clear,  sparkling  skies.  Of  another  one  of 
Berchem's  pupils,  Jan  Soolmaker  (1635-1665), 
only  a  medium-sized  landscape  is  found  in  The 
Hague.  Gerrit  van  Battem  (who  flourished  from 
1650  to  1684)  is  supposed  to  have  studied  with 
Rembrandt,  as  some  of  his  pictures  bear  resem- 
blance to  the  master's  manner.  Only  a  kitchen 
interior  by  him  is  in  the  Rotterdam  museum,  but 
his  subjects  generally  were  mountainous  landscapes, 
with  banditti,  or  travellers,  and  stag-hunts,  entirely 
in  the  Italian  style.    Less  estranged  from  his  coun- 


Ube  Xan&scape  painters  141 

try  was  Thomas  Wyck  (i6 16-1677),  who  com- 
bined his  love  for  Italian  landscapes  and  ruins  with 
portraying  Dutch  interiors.  Only  the  latter  class 
of  his  work  is  represented  in  the  Netherland  Gal- 
leries. 

Entirely  changed  to  an  Ermano  d'ltalia  was 
Herman  Swanevelt  (i 621-165 5),  who  as  a  youth 
went  to  Rome  and  lived  and  died  there.  He  was 
greatly  influenced  by  Claude  Lorrain,  as  seen  in 
his  landscape  in  the  Mauritshuis.  Although  in 
Italy  only  a  few  years,  Jakob  van  der  Ulft  (1627- 
1688)  was  so  imbued  by  its  spirit  that  he  painted 
nothing  but  imaginary  pieces  in  the  Italian  style, 
while  Hendrik  Verschuring  (1627-1690),  also  for 
five  years  in  Rome,  brought  back  with  him  less  of 
the  foreign  spirit.  Adam  Pynacker  (1622- 1673) 
again  was  more  Italianized,  building  himself  prin- 
cipally on  Claude  Lorrain's  example.  His  com- 
position is  excellent,  but  his  colour  too  cold  and 
his  texture  metallic.  He  was  a  fine  draughtsman 
of  trees.  A  peculiar  mish-mash  of  Dutch  and 
Italian  manner  is  offered  by  Johannes  Lingelbach 
(1623-1674),  whose  better  works  are  those  de- 
voted to  Dutch  subjects.  Best  of  all,  however,  he 
is  in  his  very  individual  furnishing  of  small  figures 
in  the  paintings  of  brother  artists.  Although  a  con- 
temporary and  friend  of  van  Ruisdael  and  Hob- 
bema,  we  find  in  Frederik  de  Moucheron  (1634- 


143  'Cbe  art  ot  tbe  "Retberlan^  <3allerte0 

1686)  the  seed  sprouting  as  it  was  planted  by  his 
instructor  Asselyn  and  by  his  associations  in  Rome. 
His  landscapes  are  extremely  conventional,  and 
often  rather  empty  and  cold.  One  of  his  best  works 
is  in  Rotterdam,  which  is  pleasing  in  the  melting 
tints  of  its  colour.  His  son  Izaak  (1670-1744) 
departed  even  farther  from  the  national  school. 
Only  a  few  men  remain  with  whom  the  landscape 
school  of  the  17th  century  disappears.  Abraham 
Storck  (1630-1710)  pictured,  besides  turbulent  or 
quiet  waters,  also  city  views  with  greater  talent. 
Of  these  the  Ryksmuseum  has  fair  examples.  Jan 
Sonje  (1625- 1 707)  painted  large  mountain  land- 
scapes in  the  Italian  manner  with  blue  skies,  silver 
clouds,  and  usually  with  a  dark  foreground.  His 
view  of  his  native  city  Rotterdam,  in  Boymans,  is 
less  affected  with  his  foreign  style.  Simon  van 
der  Does  (1653-1717),  although  a  pupil  of  Adri- 
aen  van  de  Velde,  fell  in  foreign  ways  when  paint- 
ing his  landscapes,  which  are  clear  and  agreeable 
in  tone. 

The  inevitable  result  of  imitation  followed. 
Some,  who  consider  themselves  heaven-bom  gen- 
iuses of  art,  will  show  us  with  a  lavish  display  of 
their  genius  how  somebody  else  might  and  ought 
to  have  painted  this,  that  or  t'other,  thereby  making 
a  travesty  of  what  somebody  else  has  done.  But 
an  artist  must  not  be  a  trick-monkey.     He  must 


Zbc  XanDscape  ipafntcrs  143 

create  his  own  fancies.  He  must  be  individual. 
Imitators  always  at  the  last  come  down  with  a 
dull  thud,  and  art  dies  with  them.  This  was  the 
cause  of  the  end  of  the  Dutch  landscape  school  of 
the  17th  century. 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE   ANIMAL,    STILL    LIFE    AND    MARINE    PAINTERS 

Possibly  the  division  of  the  Dutch  painters  ac- 
cording to  the  subjects  of  which  they  treated  is 
not  for  beauty  of  presentment.  And  yet,  for  syn- 
thetic analysis,  for  study,  for  corelation,  for  ease  of 
reference,  if  you  please,  the  present  method  may 
well  be  accepted.  Even  so  we  will  be  impressed 
with  the  wonderful  opulence,  the  untarnishing 
splendour,  the  marvellous  fecundity  of  the  Dutch 
school  of  the  17th  century. 

Among  the  galaxy  of  stars  of  this  period  there 
remain  yet  for  our  consideration  a  half  dozen  men 
who  were  most  noted  for  animal  painting,  although 
with  two  of  these  the  landscape  setting  is  of  no 
mean  importance.  Half  a  score  of  marine  paint- 
ers, and  an  equal  number  of  still  life  painters  will 
then  claim  our  attention. 

The  beasts  may  well  impel  esthetic  appreciation. 

^    The  symmetry,  the  proportion,  the  lines,  the  beauty 

of  the  human  form  are  not  the  only  objects  worthy 

144 


JAN 
HACKAERT 


THE  LANE  OF  ASH  -  TREES 

Plate  XIX 
(See   page   259) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Hnimal  ant)  /Darinc  painters         145 

to  engage  the  painter's  brush.  If  his  aim  is  the 
expression  of  character  —  the  Ultima  Thule  of  all 
art  —  he  can  also  find  it  in  the  expressions,  the  in- 
stinct, the  individuality  of  lowing  kine,  bleating 
lambs,  rearing  horses,  or  the  ferocious  strength 
of  wild  animals.  And  yet  the  Italians  had  never 
placed  the  animal  creation  with  authority  on  can- 
vas. Aelbert  Cuyp,  Berchem,  and  a  few  others 
added  more  than  a  passing  interest  to  the  domestic 
animals  they  portrayed,  although  with  them  they 
were  still  secondary  to  the  landscape.  Paulus  Pot- 
ter (1625-1654)  was  the  first  to  take  the  cattle 
of  the  wide  meadows  under  the  protection  of  his 
genius.  It  is  strange  that  he  should  have  been  the 
only  one  who  chose  his  subjects  from  the  beasts 
of  the  field,  and  that  other  artists,  with  all  their 
love  for  their  native  soil,  did  not  find  inspiration 
in  the  patient  companions  of  man.  It  must  have 
been  because  in  those  stirring  times  they  were  too 
much  engrossed  with  human  affairs.  Surely  there 
is  no  country  more  favourable  as  a  field  for  the 
painter  of  domestic  animals  than  Holland  with  its 
vast,  fertile  grazing-grounds,  its  numberless  flocks 
and  herds,  the  tender  green  for  verdant  background 
mottled  with  the  contrasting  and  harmonious  tones 
of  the  hides  of  the  cattle  spread  about.  Potter  saw 
all  this  and  recorded  what  he  saw  with  truth.  He 
observed  the  cattle  in  their  anatomies,  their  habits, 


146  XTbe  art  of  tbe  laetberlant)  ©alleries 

their  movements  and  postures,  and  with  exactness 
of  detail  and  scrupulous  accuracy  he  mirrored, 
photographically,  the  wool  of  the  sheep,  the  fine 
fleece  of  the  young  lamb,  the  shining  coat  of  a 
goat,  the  rough  and  sleek  hide  of  a  munching  cow, 
even  carrying  the  imitation  and  counterfeiting  of 
his  bovine  models  to  the  point  of  eccentricity. 

This  is,  however,  the  extent  of  his  attainment. 
Whether  the  consumptive  young  painter,  dying  in 
his  twenty-ninth  year,  would  have  developed  to  a 
higher  plane  we  may  only  surmise.  After  the  most 
rudimentary  instruction  from  mediocre  artists,  he 
taught  himself  entirely  by  the  study  of  nature  to 
paint  his  choice.  Hence  we  find  many  flaws  in  his 
title  to  greatness.  The  arrangement  of  his  pictures 
is  poor  and  lacks  unity,  the  light  is  monotonously 
even,  and  the  painting  thick,  heavy,  dull  and  dry. 
He  did  not  stay  within  the  limit  of  his  knowledge, 
for  he  attempted,  without  great  success,  to  portray 
wild  animals  which  he  surely  could  not  have  stud- 
ied as  he  did  the  beasts  of  the  farmyard.  Grant 
all  this  —  and  besides  that  he  lacked  imagination; 
that  his  love  for  the  fields  never  inspired  him  to 
poetic  expression;  that  he  is  cold,  matter-of-fact, 
a  craftsman,  if  you  please  —  then  listen  to  the  judg- 
ment of  one  who  saw  the  famous  "  Young  Bull  " 
for  the  first  time.  "  To  my  thinking,"  said  this 
gentleman,  "  Paul  Potter's  great  *  Bull '  is  one  of 


Hnimal  ant)  /Marine  painters         147 

the  finest  works  that  Dutch  painting  has  created. 
In  it  Potter  has  done  more  than  produce  a  fine 
painting  of  a  number  of  animals;  indeed  he  has 
written  the  true  idyl  of  Holland.  He  has  expressed 
the  deep,  attentive,  delicate,  almost  maternal  affec- 
tion of  the  Dutch  peasant  for  his  beasts." 

As  to  this  well-known  painting,  we  will  consider 
it  critically  in  our  visit  to  the  Mauritshuis  —  but 
listen:  "An  idyl  of  Holland,"  that  is  what  Paul 
Potter's  work  is,  and  therein  lies  its  greatness.  It 
sums  up  the  agricultural  life  which  holds  so  large 
a  place  in  the  economic  history  of  the  Dutch  people. 
We  need  not  go  so  far  as  a  French  writer,  who 
exclaims  that  "  Rembrandt's  *  Night  Watch  '  is  the 
ecstasy  of  liberty,  the  burning  fervour  of  men  still 
in  the  honeymoon  of  independence ;  "  and  then  con- 
tinues that  "  in  Paul  Potter's  *  Bull '  is  the  happi- 
ness, less  fervid  but  still  deeper  seated,  which  the 
freeholder  of  the  soil,  the  man  without  the  badge 
of  servitude,  experiences  in  seeing  crops  spring  and 
flourish  through  his  efforts,  and  flocks  and  herds 
multiply  under  his  care.  In  these  two  works,  then, 
is  set  forth  the  whole  life  of  the  little  Republic; 
each  complements  and  supplements  the  other."  No, 
we  will  not  be  carried  away  to  such  enthusiasm. 
Nevertheless,  Paulus  Potter  was  a  great  painter, 
despite  his  faults.  Troyon  never  painted  the  bovine 
race    with    deeper    insight    and    characterization, 


148  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  "Retberlant)  Galleries 

Landseer's  dogs  never  surpassed  Potter'  magriifi- 
cent  "Wolfhound,"  now  in  the  Hermitage;  his 
"  Dairy  Farms  "  are  works  of  art  that  will  live  so 
long  as  the  love  of  nature  abides. 

His  short  and  uneventful  life,  in  which  he  pur- 
sued his  profession  with  feverish  haste,  was  prin- 
cipally passed  in  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague,  in 
which  latter  city  he  found  his  wife,  the  daughter 
of  the  city  architect.  His  fame  was  spread  far  and 
wide,  and  he  was  patronized  by  the  amateurs  of  art, 
so  that  no  temporal  cares  ever  harassed  him.  Over 
a  hundred  pictures  still  known  to  exist,  and  numer- 
ous drawings  and  etchings,  were  the  fruit  of  his 
unremitting  labour. 

Six  years  older  than  Potter,  Philip  Wouwerman 
(1619-1668)  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
horse,  which  he  pictured  as  the  farm  animal  or  the 
battle  charger.  His  landscape  art,  which  forms 
no  mean  part  in  his  compositions,  he  had  learned 
of  Jan  Wynants,  and  he  did  his  master  credit.  Es- 
pecially is  his  foliage  verdant  and  clear,  and  his 
light  effect  is  peculiarly  charming.  But  horses 
were  his  favourite  study  and  he  always  introduces 
them  into  his  pictures,  a  white  horse  generally 
serving  as  his  principal  mass  of  light.  He  was 
master  of  the  form  and  action  of  these  animals, 
and  became  so  facile  that  he  could  dispense  with 
the  use  of  models.     With  his  prolific  brush  he  de- 


animal  an^  /IDarine  painters         149 

picts  cavaliers  riding  out  in  the  morning,  or  return- 
ing at  sunset,  stopping  at  inn-doors  or  smithies,  or, 
accompanied  by  plumed  ladies,  chasing  the  stag, 
the  roe  or  the  boar  with  hounds,  or  pursuing  the 
heron  with  falcons.  Sometimes  robbers  attack 
travellers,  or  plunder  convoys,  or  cavalry  meet  in 
furious  fight.  While  his  earlier  pictures  are  warm 
and  brown  in  tone,  those  of  his  maturer  period  are 
cooler  and  silvery,  but  his  handling  is  somewhat 
too  smooth,  too  neat,  too  perfectly  rounded  to  be 
altogether  inspiring.  He  spent  all  his  life  in  his 
native  Haarlem,  so  that  we  may  presume  that  some 
of  his  landscape  settings  were  copied  from  the 
work  of  artists  who  had  travelled  farther  afield. 

Govaert  Camphuyzen  (1625-1674)  was  an  ani- 
mal painter  who  formed  himself  entirely  after 
Potter's  example,  and  came  so  near  to  him  that  a 
painting  of  his  in  the  Dulwich  Gallery,  with  a 
forged  signature  of  Potter,  was  for  long  misat- 
tributed.  His  works  are  very  scarce.  They  are 
of  vivid  conception  and  great  truthfulness,  boldly 
drawn,  yet  remarkable  for  detail.  Abraham  Hon- 
dius  (1638- 1 692)  was  more  interested  in  the  chase. 
His  bear  and  boar  hunts  excel  in  their  vehement 
fury,  while  the  anatomical  correctness  in  his  work 
classes  him  among  the  foremost  animal  painters. 

The  more  modest  denizens  of  the  farmyard, 
fowls  and  poultry,  had  already  been  painted  a  score 


ISO  XTbc  Hrt  ot  tbc  •fletberlan&  Galleries 

of  years  earlier  by  Jan  Asselyn  (1610-1652),  who 
placed  these  in  Italian  landscapes,  reminiscent  of 
his  sojourn  in  the  Southland  for  a  number  of  years. 
His  masterpiece  of  a  white  swan  defending  its  nest 
is  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  His  successor  in  this  genre, 
Melchior  d'Hondecoeter  (1636- 1695)  surpassed 
him  in  the  counterfeits  of  the  winged  and  feathered 
animal  kingdom,  especially  where  he  depicts  the 
flutter  and  flurry  of  the  poultry  yard  in  moments 
of  exceptional  excitement.  With  the  richest  varia- 
tion of  grouping  he  combined  a  lively  and  truthful 
colour  scheme,  in  which,  however,  the  light  effects 
are  unfortunately  neglected. 

The  transition  from  the  painting  of  live  fowls 
to  dead  birds  is  easy,  and  this  brings  us  to  the 
division  of  the  still  life  painters.  The  painting  of 
still  life  —  pots,  pans,  china,  stuffs,  fruits,  flowers, 
dead  game  —  has  always  been  especially  attractive 
to  artists  for  the  opportunity  to  get  bits  of  colour, 
or  the  value  of  light  on  these  objects.  Almost  all 
artists  practise  this,  especially  in  genre  painting, 
to  which  manner  still  life  really  belongs.  Many, 
however,  have  given  themselves  exclusively  to  this 
branch  of  art,  and  a  half  score  may  be  mentioned 
among  the  Dutch  painters  of  the  17th  century. 

The  first  artist  of  whom  we  have  examples  of 
this  work  is  Pieter  Claesz.  van  Haarlem  (1590- 
1660)  of  whom  nothing  is  known.    His  work  has 


animal  an&  /iDarfne  painters         151 

often  been  confused  with  that  of  de  Heem,  who 
was  contemporaneous.  Jan  Davidsz.  de  Heem 
(1600-1683)  had  been  taught  by  his  father,  of 
whose  work  nothing  has  come  down  to  us.  Jan 
de  Heem  reached  the  highest  efficiency  in  his  art 
in  tasteful  arrangement,  force  and  depth  of  pres- 
entation, and  truth  of  colour.  Cornelis  de  Heem 
(1631-1695),  of  whose  relationship  to  Jan  we  are 
in  doubt,  equalled  him  in  many  ways.  Willem 
Claesz.  Heda  (1594-after  1678)  was  born  in  Haar- 
lem, and  was  still  living  in  1678,  when  Jan  de  Bray 
painted  his  portrait.  His  pictures  are  of  fruits, 
flowers,  etc.,  in  masterly  manner,  with  careful  fin- 
ish. He  succeeded  especially  in  representing  glass 
goblets.  Fish  was  the  specialty  of  Abraham  van 
Beyeren  (1620-1674)  of  The  Hague,  but  he 
adorned  his  pictures  also  with  flowers  and  fruits, 
and  with  gold  and  silver  wine  flagons.  Willem 
Kalfif  (1621-1693)  arranged  his  nature  morte  with 
a  sense  for  the  picturesque  and  painted  it  with  warm 
colour  and  ready  brush.  He  did  a  "  Pickled  Her- 
ring" (now  in  Gotha)  so  appetizingly  that  the 
poet  Cats  burst  into  rhyme  at  the  sight  of  it. 
Willem  van  Aelst  (1626- 1683),  who  hailed  from 
Delft,  has  left  perfect  specimens  of  this  art,  his 
choice  of  subjects  being  by  preference  dead  game, 
with  all  the  decorative  effect  of  the  sideboard's  fur- 
nishing of  silver  and  flowers,  or  of  the  implements 


153  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  laetberlanb  (BallerteB 

of  the  chase.  The  Weenix  family,  father  and  son, 
are  eminent  among  the  still  life  painters.  Jan  Bap- 
tist Weenix  (1621-1660)  must  be  considered  the 
most  gifted  of  these  artists,  as  he  possessed  the 
most  versatile  powers.  He  confined  himself  by  no 
means  to  still  life,  but  produced  creditable  portraits, 
and  pictures  of  seaports  —  the  latter  while  sojourn- 
ing in  Italy.  Occasionally,  though  very  seldom,  he 
attempted  biblical  or  poetical  subjects.  In  his  later 
years  he  devoted  himself  most  to  pictures  of  dead 
game,  which  he  depicted  with  great  fidelity  to  na- 
ture and  largeness  of  treatment.  Many  of  these, 
when  not  signed,  are,  however,  the  work  of  his 
son  Jan  Weenix  (1640-1719),  who,  at  first  his 
equal,  eventually  surpassed  his  father,  especially  in 
freedom  of  execution  and  in  colouring.  He  had 
not  the  energy  or  dramatic  force  shown  by  d'Hon- 
decoeter  in  the  representation  of  live  birds,  but  he 
surpassed  him  in  the  finish,  as  in  the  decorative 
arrangement  of  dead  game.  This  he  executed  on 
a  large  scale  and  in  a  masterly  manner,  exhibiting 
great  clearness,  truth,  harmony,  and  power.  A 
dead  swan  is  frequently  found  in  his  compositions. 
Abraham  Mignon  (1640-1679),  born  in  Frank- 
fort, came  early  to  Holland  and  became  a  pupil  of 
Jan  de  Heem.  He  was  exceedingly  popular  for 
his  artistic  and  attractive  arrangement,  although  his 
colour  was  not  equal  to  his  master's,  and  his  han- 


^  -Si 


Hnimal  anD  /IDarine  IPatntcrs         153 

dling  somewhat  thin.  Rachel  Ruysch  (1664-1750) 
was  the  daughter  of  a  professor  of  anatomy  at 
Amsterdam.  At  an  early  age  she  showed  a  de- 
cided tasted  for  drawing,  and  studied  under  Willem 
van  Aelst,  but  soon  surpassed  him  in  painting  flow- 
ers and  butterflies.  She  displayed  admirable  taste 
and  judgment  in  the  grouping  of  her  rare  exot- 
ics, depicting  these  with  minute  accuracy  and  finish. 
She  was  married  to  the  portrait  painter  Jurriaan 
Pool,  by  whom  she  had  a  large  family,  but  con- 
tinued to  practise  her  art  until  she  reached  an  ad- 
vanced age.  During  her  later  years  she  saw  a  rival 
in  public  favour,  Jan  van  Huysum  (1682-1740). 
But  this  artist,  although  popular  for  a  time,  did  not 
equal  her  in  tasteful  simplicity  or  harmonious  col- 
our. His  work,  with  its  light  backgrounds,  pos- 
sesses a  showy  character,  which  attracted  many 
buyers. 

While  the  still  life  painters  might  be  classed  with 
those  who  painted  genre,  the  marine  painters  are 
often  placed  with  the  landscapists.  In  the  latter 
case  this  is  incorrect.  To  paint  the  sea  is  to  rep- 
resent the  dynamic  energy  and  weight  of  moving 
water,  and  with  a  sameness  of  subject,  water  and 
sky,  to  show  its  illimitable  variety.  At  its  best  it 
is  far  more  difficult  than  landscape  painting.  A 
compromise  is  often  made  by  introducing  the  hu- 
man element  in  adding  boats,  or  shore  and  harbour 


154  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  1actberlan^  eallerles 

view.  If  these  are  added,  still  subservient  to  the 
limpidity,  the  transparency,  or  the  furious  force 
of  water,  we  must  acclaim  the  effort.  The  old 
masters  did  not  trust  themselves  to  paint  the  sea, 
for  of  the  Italians  only  Salvator  Rosa,  and  of  the 
French  Claude  Lorrain  have  made  the  attempt. 
Whether  it  is  because  the  ocean  was  their  nearest 
neighbour,  or  for  whatever  reason,  we  find  a  num- 
ber of  the  17th  century  Dutch  revealing"  to  us  the 
beauty,  the  suggestiveness  of  a  sea  picture. 

The  first  of  these  is  almost  unknown.  Aert  van 
Antum  (flourished  1600- 1620)  has  left  only  a  few 
paintings,  which  show  the  beach  of  Scheveningen. 
Although  yet  halting,  as  if  the  artist  were  op- 
pressed by  the  vastness  of  his  undertaking,  his  work 
possesses  distinct  merit.  Of  greater  attainment  was 
Adriaen  van  de  Velde's  father,  and  brother  to 
Esaias,  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  Elder  (1611- 
1693),  who  was  so  devoted  to  his  art  that  he  went 
to  sea  with  Tromp  and  was  present  at  many  sea- 
fights,  which  he  pictured  artistically  with  pen  and 
ink.  He  almost  lost  his  life  when  Wassenaer-Ob- 
dam  exploded  his  ship  to  prevent  it  from  falling 
into  the  hands  of  the  English.  He  taught  Simon 
de  Vlieger  (16 12- 1663),  whose  sea  views,  studded 
with  ships,  are  still  further  advancing  the  art  of 
marine  painting,  while  Reinier  Nooms,  called  Zee- 
man  (1623-1688),  a  fellow  pupil,  was  equally  sue- 


Hnimal  an&  /iDarfne  ipainters         155 

cessful,  especially  with  quiet  waters.  Surpassing* 
all  was  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  Younger  (1633- 
1707),  of  whom  Walpole  in  his  Anecdotes  of 
Painting  said :  "  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  son, 
was  the  greatest  man  that  has  appeared  in  this 
branch  of  painting;  the  palm  is  not  less  disputed 
with  Raphael  for  history,  than  with  van  de  Velde 
for  sea  pieces."  Nothing  can  match  the  fine  art 
and  verisimilitude  wherewith  he  counterfeited  the 
smooth  transparency  of  the  wide  water,  and  the 
accuracy  of  form  and  movement  of  the  ships,  all 
with  clearest  colour  and  enchanting  play  of  light. 
The  silvery  daylight,  sometimes  deep>ening  into  a 
sunny  glow,  the  notation  of  atmospheric  conditions 
are  of  utmost  charm.  His  stormy  scenes  are  less 
attractive. 

Hendrik  Dubbels  (1620-1676)  hailed  from  Am- 
sterdam, but  nothing  is  known  of  his  life.  His 
work,  of  which  very  little  remains,  is  of  unquali- 
fied merit.  Jan  van  de  Capelle  (1624-1679),  also 
of  Amsterdam,  was  given  the  freedom  of  the  city 
on  occasion  of  his  marriage  in  1653,  which  is  proof 
of  the  renown  he  had  earned  for  his  fine  marine 
paintings  and  river  views.  These  contain  breadth 
and  delicacy  of  aerial  effect  and  poetic  charm.  Jan 
Vermeer  van  Haarlem  (1628-1691)  was  also  par- 
tial to  sea  pieces,  with  good  skies,  and  clear,  trans- 
parent water.     Li  eve  Verschuer  (1630- 1686)  was 


156  trbe  art  of  tbe  fletberlant)  Galleries 

less  eminent,  although  it  must  be  said  to  his  credit 
that,  despite  a  long  journey  to  Italy,  he  did  not 
forsake  his  love  for  the  rippling  waterways  and 
seaboards  of  his  native  land.  He  painted  these 
with  convincing  truthfulness,  as  may  be  seen  in  his 
few  examples  that  remain.  Ludolf  Backhuyzen 
(1631-1708)  was  the  son  of  the  government  sec- 
retary at  Emden,  and  acted  as  his  father's  clerk 
until  1650,  when  he  was  placed  with  a  merchant 
at  Amsterdam  to  learn  commercial  business.  While 
thus  engaged,  Backhuyzen  commenced  to  make 
drawings  of  ships  from  nature,  for  which  he  soon 
found  willing  purchasers.  This  encouraged  him  to 
turn  to  art  as  his  profession,  and  in  the  studios  of 
Allert  van  Everdingen  and  of  Hendrik  Dubbels 
he  soon  acquired  great  proficiency.  His  favourite 
subjects  were  wrecks  and  stormy  seas,  which  he 
frequently  sketched  from  nature  in  an  open  boat, 
at  imminent  peril  to  himself  and  the  boatmen.  His 
colour  lacks  the  transparency  of  Dubbels  and  van 
de  Velde,  but  the  action  of  oncoming  waves  with 
clouds  of  spray  is  admirably  given  with  austere 
beauty. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE    XIX    CENTURY    DUTCH    PAINTERS THE    ACA- 
DEMICIANS   THE    MODERNS 

Italian  and  French  influences  had  gradually 
penetrated  the  confines  of  Holland,  whereby  the 
art  expression  of  its  painters  lost  that  peculiar  in- 
digenous character  which  has  been  the  foundation 
of  its  greatness.  The  profession  of  Art  commenced 
even  to  lack  adherents,  and  only  here  and  there  do 
we  find  an  isolated  painter  devoting  himself  to  his 
brush.  Not  until  the  middle  of  the  19th  century 
did  a  revival  take  place,  and  the  Modern  Dutch 
School  was  born,  which  to-day  ranks  highest  in  the 
estimation  of  art  lovers. 

The  1 8th  century  was  the  dark  age  in  art,  and 
those  who  devoted  themselves  to  it  were  swayed 
between  the  Southern  influences  and  the  old  tradi- 
tions of  their  immediate  predecessors.  The  results 
were  anemic,  invertebrate  products,  scarcely  worthy 
of  consideration.  They  were  neither  the  flippant, 
careless,  but  superficially  attractive  presentments  of 
Boucher  and  van  Loo,  with  all  the  caprice  of  allur- 
es? 


is8  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  lRetberlan&  (Ballcdcs 

ing  grace,  nor  the  serious  work  of  the  old  school. 

Only  a  few  may  pass  muster.  The  portraits  by 
Aart  Schouman  (1710-1792)  were  conventional, 
although  it  is  recorded  that  he  excelled  in  painting 
live  birds  and  poultry,  whereof  no  examples  are 
left.  Portraits  were  also  painted  by  Albertus 
Frese  (1714-1788)  of  The  Hague,  who  combined 
the  profession  of  painter  with  the  trade  of  dealer 
in  painters'  materials.  A  family  of  painters.  La 
Fargue  by  name,  produced  in  the  middle  of  the 
century  city  views,  principally  of  The  Hague.  Tet- 
hart  Ph.  C.  Haag  (1740-1812)  was  court  painter 
to  Prins  Willem  V,  whose  portrait  he  painted. 
Cornells  van  Cuylenburgh  (1758-1827)  produced 
some  of  the  old  style  genres  with  candlelight  ef- 
fects; and  Dirk  Langendyk  (1748-1805),  of  Rot- 
terdam, painted  combats  and  battles  skilfully.  He 
depicted  the  passions  with  great  truth  and  gave 
to  smallest  details  the  highest  degree  of  finish. 

Those  who  worked  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
19th  century  had  sold  themselves  completely  to  the 
neo-classic  school  of  David.  They  strove  to  imi- 
tate the  elevated  style,  pseudo-heroic,  lacking  spon- 
taneity, and  abhorring  all  subjectiveness,  or  the  ex- 
pression of  the  painter's  own  individuality.  Their 
aim  was  by  dead  technical  skill  to  make  copies  of 
human  beings,  even  of  nature  as  it  reveals  itself  in 
leaves  and  twigs,  but  barren  of  life,  dry  and  formal. 


Ubc  ^ir^  Century  Butcb  painters     159 

The  van  Os  family  was  of  this  type.  Jan  van  Os 
(1744-1808)  painted  principally  flowers,  as  did  his 
son  G.  J.  J.  van  Os  (i  782-1 861),  adding  thereto 
fruit  and  fowls.  The  elder  son,  P.  G.  van  Os 
(1776- 1 839),  devoted  himself  to  landscape  and 
cattle.  Another  relative,  P.  F.  van  Os,  is  only 
known  as  the  teacher  of  Anton  Mauve,  who  later 
was  to  revive  and  redeem  Dutch  landscape  art. 
Johan  Christian  Schotel  (1787- 1838),  a  marine 
painter  of  Dordrecht,  after  studying  the  rudiments 
of  art,  went  to  nature,  and  studied  the  sea  from  an 
open  boat,  as  Backhuyzen  had  done  before  him. 
But  the  popularity  which  he  enjoyed  during  his  life 
soon  passed.  Another  painter,  Andreas  Schelfhout 
(1787- 1 870),  also  painted  marines,  but  more  espe- 
cially landscapes,  some  of  these  with  snow  effects. 
In  his  later  years  he  cut  himself  somewhat  loose 
from  the  severe  academic  style,  to  which  B.  C. 
Koekkoek  (1803- 1862)  adhered  to  the  end.  De- 
spite the  example  set  to  him  by  his  younger  breth- 
ren, he  continued  to  the  last  to  paint  his  photo- 
graphic landscapes,  so  strongly  reminding  of  the 
old  Munich  and  Dusseldorf  schools.  The  same  im- 
pression we  get  from  the  architectural  pictures  of 
J.  H.  Verheyen  (1778- 1846).  The  Pienemans  were 
also  popular  in  their  time.  Jan  Willem  Pieneman 
(1779- 1 853),  after  a  few  years  of  landscape  paint- 
ing,   adopted    the   grandiloquent,    historical    style, 


i6o  XCbe  Hrt  ot  tbc  laetberlan^  Galleries 

while  his  son  Nicolaas  (1810-1860)  devoted  him- 
self to  punctiliously  executed  genre. 

The  van  Hovens  and  the  Krusemans  sought  more 
to  escape  the  formalism  of  the  age  and  to  study  the 
older  masters.  But  it  was  a  past  art  to  them,  which 
only  gave  them  a  clear  understanding  of  technic, 
so  that  they  were  able  to  instruct  many  of  the  men 
who  later  became  renowned.  B.  J.  van  Hove 
(17901880)  produced  some  good  city  views,  and 
his  son,  Hubertus  van  Hove  (1814-1865),  interiors. 
The  son  of  Hubertus,  Bart  van  Hove  (born  1850), 
is  to-day  Holland's  leading  sculptor.  Two  of  the 
Krusemans  have  also  been  eminent  teachers.  Cor- 
nells Kruseman  (1797-1857)  and  his  son,  Jan  A. 
Kruseman  (1804- 1862),  were  both  portrait  paint- 
ers. Cornells  has  also  given  examples  of  historical 
genre,  where  he  was  particularly  successful  in  his 
female  figures.  Jan  Adam  went  to  Paris  and  was 
befriended  by  David.  Frans  B.  de  Groot  (1796- 
1875),  owing  to  his  development  late  in  life,  painted 
his  marines  more  in  the  style  of  the  Romanticists. 

An  artist  who  belongs  to  the  Dutch  school  as 
much  as  Whistler  or  Sargent  belongs  to  the  Amer- 
ican —  that  is,  not  at  all  —  was  Ary  Scheffer 
(1795- 1 858).  He  was  born  in  Holland,  but  was 
taken  by  his  mother,  very  early  in  life,  to  Paris, 
where  he  lived  and  died.  His  art  was  French  — 
academic  to  the  core.    At  first  painting  small  genre, 


XCbe  Jif  Centura  H)utcb  painters    i6i 

he  became  later  more  ambitious,  executing  large 
figure  pieces,  in  which  he  showed  a  strong  leaning 
towards  the  pathetic  and  emotional  vein.  A  jour- 
ney through  Holland  in  middle  age,  where  he  stud- 
ied Rembrandt  and  the  masters,  had  a  great  influ- 
ence upon  him,  but  he  never  could  shake  off  David's 
thrall.  Scheffer's  taste  was  refined  and  elevated, 
his  drawing  correct,  but  he  lacked  the  genius 
whereby  David  infused  the  fire  of  life  into  an  art 
which  in  his  followers  is  merely  coldly  rhetorical. 

With  the  dawn  of  the  19th  century  came  the  era 
of  noble  discontent,  the  dawn  of  revolt.  And  re- 
volt always  stirs,  awakens,  calls  forth  action.  In 
art  it  was  the  reaction  against  the  too  sculptural 
tendencies  of  the  academicians,  in  whose  hands  art 
had  become  a  thing  of  metes  and  bounds  and  meas- 
urements and  geometric  theorems.  The  revolt  was 
inaugurated  by  the  so-called  Romanticists,  led  by 
Eugene  Delacroix,  against  the  anchylosis  of  artis- 
tic smugness.  The  counter  attack,  made  by  Ingres 
and  his  followers,  was  aimed  at  both.  Delacroix 
had  first  cut  loose  from  academic  classicism,  rating 
freedom  of  expression  and  the  representation  of 
dramatic  and  emotional  themes  as  superior  to 
formal  composition  and  impersonal,  statuesque  art, 
and  holding  that  beauty  of  colour  was  of  greater 
pictorial  importance  than  purity  of  line.  While 
Ingres  also  had  deserted  his  master  David,  he  held, 


i62   tlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  'ttetberlanb  Oallertes 

against  the  Romanticists,  that  colour  and  effect 
should  be  wholly  subordinate  to  beauty  of  line,  that 
"  drawing  was  the  probity  of  art,"  but  that  the 
inspiration  to  the  highest  style  should  be  gained 
by  turning  to  nature  alone.  The  strife  and  intense 
partisanship  was  hot  between  the  opposing  factions. 

In  the  midst  of  the  echoes  of  this  affray,  lasting 
for  many  years,  and  which  reached  also  Holland, 
many  men  were  born  there  who  chose  to  follow  one 
side  or  the  other.  It  seemed  as  if  this  stir  attracted 
again  the  art-loving  Dutchmen  to  practise  the  pro- 
fession of  painting;  and  during  the  first  twenty- 
five  years  of  the  century  double,  yea,  treble  the 
number  of  men  of  the  entire  previous  century  were 
born,  who  devoted  themselves  to  the  pictorial  arts. 
Some  of  these  adhered  to  the  classic,  others 
adopted  the  romantic  style,  and  again  others  com- 
bined the  two,  following  the  Dusseldorf  movement. 
A  larger  number,  however,  heeded  Ingres'  advice, 
and  went  to  nature  for  study,  and  these  were  the 
forerunners  of  what  developed,  after  the  first  half 
of  the  century  was  completed,  into  the  Dutch  school 
of  the  present  time. 

The  first  list,  of  those  with  academic  or  Romantic 
tendencies,  includes  the  following  artists : 

Hermanus  A.  de  Bloeme  (1802-1867),  a  portrait 
painter  who  had  formed  himself  after  Pieneman  on 
strictly  classic  lines. 


Ubc  f  If  Century  Dutcb  ipatntcrs    163 

p.  F.  Greive  (1811-1872),  of  Amsterdam,  who 
is  best  known  as  an  excellent  instructor,  and  whose 
small  genre  is  in  the  style  of  Meyer  von  Bremen. 

C  J.  Behr  (1812-1895),  of  The  Hague,  was  an 
architectural  painter  of  renown. 

J.  B.  Tom  (1813-1894),  whose  academic  train- 
ing under  Schelfhout  was  supplemented  with  the 
Romanticism  of  colour,  and  whose  landscapes,  with 
small  children  at  play,  are  very  individual  and  eas- 
ily recognized. 

Charles  Rochussen  (1815-1894)  excelled  as  a 
draughtsman  in  witty  pen  and  ink  illustrations. 
His  paintings  were  principally  devoted  to  Dutch 
history,  from  the  times  of  the  Bataves  to  the  French 
oppression.  For  this  he  became  an  ardent  student 
of  old  chronicles  and  archives,  whereby  his  well- 
wrought  pictures  are  of  documentary  value. 

Adriana  Johanna  Haanen  (1814-1895)  has  left 
many  attractive  flower  pieces,  while  genre  was  fol- 
lowed by  J.  L.  Cornet  (18 15- 1882),  of  Leyden. 

J.  A.  B.  Stroebel  (born  18 13  and  recently  de- 
deceased)  was  a  pupil  of  the  van  Hovens,  He 
sought  in  his  interiors,  in  de  Hooch's  style,  for 
sun  effects  on  white  walls.  Often  he  filled  these 
rooms  in  anecdotal  fashion  with  historical  person- 
ages.    He  was  the  first  instructor  of  Jacob  Maris. 

David  Joseph  Bles  (1821-1899),  ^^  his  time  one 
of  the  most  popular  artists,  was  one  of  the  best 
story-telling  painters. 


i64   Xlbe  art  ot  tbc  laetberlanb  Galleries 

A.  Bakker-Korff  (1824-1882)  is  famous  for  the 
delicately  brushed  interiors  in  which  he  displays 
elderly  ladies  gossiping  around  the  tea-table, 

J.  W.  van  Borselen  (1825-1892),  a  pupil  of 
Schelfhout,  studied  his  landscapes  from  nature, 
whereby  in  time  he  came  to  excel  his  master. 

Another  group  of  painters,  also  bom  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  century,  went  more  directly  to  nature 
for  inspiration,  although  they  could  not  quite  shake 
off  the  trammels  of  conventionalism.  Still  we  note 
in  their  work  a  groping  for  the  new  light.  That 
they  did  not  reach  it,  as  others  did  who  were  also 
bom  in  the  third  decade  —  Bosboom,  Israels,  Weis- 
senbruch  and  Roelofs  —  is  in  most  cases  to  be  as- 
cribed more  to  lack  of  ability  than  to  desire.  The 
list  which  follows  therefore  contains  the  names  of 
artists  of  the  second  or  third  rank,  whose  work  is 
still  worthy  to  be  found  in  the  various  Netherland 
Galleries. 

The  earliest  of  this  group  was  Antoine  Waldorp 
(1803-1866),  whose  Dutch  landscapes  with  their 
characteristic  waterways  are  typical  of  the  technic 
which  marks  those  that  follow. 

J.  T.  Abels  (1803- 1 866)  was  more  of  an  ama- 
teur than  a  professional  artist.  A  group  of  small 
landscapes  in  The  Hague  municipal  museum  indi- 
cate some  talent. 

J,  W.  Bilders  (1811-1890),  of  the  Romanticist 


trbe  f  ITf  Century  2)utcb  painters     165 

movement,  was  a  landscape  painter  of  distinction. 
He  was  successful  in  directing  his  many  pupils  to 
the  artist's  best  guide,  nature.  His  wife  and  pupil, 
Mrs.  Bilders-van  Bosse  (1837-1900),  adopted  in 
her  later  years  the  broad  and  free  handling  of  the 
leaders  of  the  school.  Her  water  colours  of  wood- 
interiors  with  silver  beaches  and  birches  are  full  of 
colour  and  atmosphere. 

Wouter  Verschuur  (18 12- 1874),  a  pupil  of  P.  G. 
van  Os,  excelled  in  his  pictures  of  horses,  in  which 
he  displays  all  the  knowledge  which  Wouwerman 
possessed,  but  his  landscape  setting  is  tight  and  of 
less  interest. 

Salomon  Leonardus  Verveer  (1813-1876),  a 
marine  painter,  leads  to  the  assertion  that  the  paint- 
ers of  the  sea,  mentioned  in  this  group,  are  least 
infected  by  tradition  or  academic  authority.  Al- 
though they  did  not  reach  the  height  of  excellence 
attained  by  Jacob  Maris  and  Mesdag,  they  still  are 
most  imbued  with  the  national  spirit.  His  brother 
Elchanon  Verveer  (1826-1900)  was  even  more  suc- 
cessful and  honoured. 

P.  L.  Dubourq  (1815-1873),  on  the  contrary, 
was  thoroughly  indoctrinated  by  his  master  Schelf- 
hout  in  the  old  methods.  He  forsook  even,  in  the 
choice  of  his  subjects,  the  Dutch  meadows  for  the 
Italian  lakes. 

P.  L.  F.  Kluyver  (18 16- 1900),  although  paint- 


i66   Ube  Hrt  of  tbc  "Wetberlanb  ©allerics 

ing  Dutch  scenery,  followed  in  this  Koekkoek's  de- 
tailed style. 

Willem  Gruyter,  Jr.  (1817-1880),  painted  some 
good  marines,  and  in  Cornelis  Springer  (1817- 
189 1 )  we  have  a  noteworthy  painter  of  city  views. 
His  architectural  exactitude  of  the  picturesque 
houses  in  little  towns  is  combined  with  true  aerial 
perspective.  In  his  later  years  we  may  recognize 
warmer  colours  and  more  sunny  light  effects. 

L.  Meyer  (1819-1866)  emancipated  himself  to 
a  great  extent  from  Pieneman's  instruction  and 
painted  the  boiling  waters  of  coast  storms  with 
convincing  verisimilitude. 

Jacob  J.  van  der  Maaten  (1820-1879)  leads  us 
again  through  the  rich  wheat-fields  and  woods  sur- 
rounding his  native  Appeldoorn,  where  the  royal 
summer  palace  is  located.  He  was  duly  under  the 
influence  of  the  Romanticism  of  his  master  Hen- 
drik  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen. 

The  same  influence  may  be  seen  in  the  work  of 
his  fellow-pupil  J.  F.  van  Deventer  (1822- 1886), 
whose  Dutch  landscape  was  medalled  at  the  Phila- 
delphia Exposition  in  1876.  His  brother  Willem 
A.  van  Deventer  (1824-1893)  devoted  himself 
more  to  harbour  and  river  views,  while  the  genre 
of  Lambertus  Hardenberg  (1822-1900)  displays 
the  picturesque  disorder  of  shipyards  and  the  like. 

Perhaps  the  most  artistic  family  in  Holland  in 


Zbc  f Iff  Century  Dutcb  painters    167 

the  19th  century  was  the  Ten  Kate.  Painters, 
architects,  orators  and  poets  of  that  name  have 
earned  laurels  in  the  realm  of  Dutch  culture.  The 
Nestor  of  the  family  was  Herman  F.  C.  ten  Kate 
(1822- 1 891),  prominent  as  a  teacher,  and  re- 
nowned for  his  water  colours  and  paintings  with 
martial  figures.  His  interiors  of  guardrooms  with 
Spanish  or  Dutch  soldiers  in  their  picturesque  cos- 
tumes fell  greatly  to  the  taste  of  his  public.  His 
colouring  was  rich  and  brilliant,  and  his  brush- 
work  careful.  His  younger  brother,  Mari  ten  Kate 
(183 1 -1900),  was  still  more  influenced  by  the  Ro- 
manticists, and  freer  in  his  handling.  J.  M.  ten 
Kate  (1859-1896),  Mari's  son,  belongs  more  to  the 
moderns,  but  is  overshadowed  by  his  greater  con- 
temporaries. 

H.  J.  Scholten  (1824-1907),  one  of  Greive's 
pupils,  painted  in  the  Dusseldorf  style. 

J.  J.  Heppener  (1826- 1898)  was  intimate  with 
Dutch  scenery.  His  thumb-box  sketches,  of  which 
he  left  a  large  number,  are  characteristic  and  point 
in  the  direction  of  the  plein-air  school  of  the  mod- 
erns. 

Also  the  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzens  have  fur- 
nished various  members  to  the  painters'  guild.  The 
first  one  of  the  family  was  Hendrik  (1795- 1860), 
who  left  many  pupils,  but  few  paintings  in  the 
Dutch  Galleries.     His  nephew,  Alexander  Bakhuy- 


i68  Zbc  Brt  of  tbe  1Retberlan5  (Balleries 

zen,  Jr.  (1827-1878),  painted  scenes  with  wooded 
landscape.  Hendrik's  daughter,  Gerardina  Jacoba 
(1826-1895),  became  one  of  the  best  flower  and 
fruit  painters,  in  oil  and  aquarelle.  Later  she  be- 
came thoroughly  modern  in  her  method.  Her 
brother,  J.  J.  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen  (born 
1835),  has  given  us  fine  wooded  interiors  that  are 
reminiscent  of  Ruisdael.  He  was  a  nature  painter 
with  romantic  tendencies. 

Jacobus  van  Gorkom  (1827-1880)  painted  land- 
scapes, sometimes  with  meandering  streams,  and 
J.  E.  van  Heemskerck  van  Beest  (1828-1894) 
turned  to  the  turbulent  ocean  for  inspiration.  His 
storm  views  are  as  impressive  as  those  of  Jules 
Dupre. 

Still  belonging  to  this  section  of  the  Dutch  ar- 
tists of  the  19th  century  are  two  men  whose  sub- 
jects are  thoroughly  indigenous  to  Holland,  one  a 
cattle  painter,  the  other  one  painting  interiors. 
They  possess,  however,  in  their  technic,  in  no  wise 
the  characteristics  of  the  modern  school. 

Hendrik  Valkenburg  (1826- 1896)  gives  clear 
and  brightly  coloured  views  of  the  neat  interiors  of 
Dutch  peasant  houses.  He  loved  to  depict  the  cru- 
cial moment  when  the  farmer  boy  is  asking  moth- 
er's consent,  while  his  sweetheart  is  quizzically 
looking  on.  These  are  attractive  compositions,  but 
they  lack  the  higher  qualities   of  art.     They  are 


NICOLAAS 
MAES 


THE  ENDLESS  PRAYER 

Plate   XXII 
{See  page   223) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Ube  ^"fff  Century  H)utcb  painters    169 

chromo-like  and  by  their  sugary-sweetness  weari- 
some. In  his  later  years  he  had  friendship  with 
Mauve,  from  whom  he  learned  much  to  his  own 
improvement. 

Pieter  Stortenbeker  (1828- 1898)  was  an  emi- 
nent cattle  painter  in  his  day.  His  knowledge  of 
the  anatomy  of  his  models  is  unsurpassed,  but  he 
lacks  the  atmospheric  quality  for  which  we  should 
look.  He  is  hard  and  flat  in  his  colouring  and 
belongs  truly  to  that  style  of  which  Verboeckhoven 
was  the  eminent  exponent. 

But  the  men  were  being  born  who  were  to  recall 
the  glories  of  the  golden  age.  Not  by  imitating 
what  the  old  masters  had  done,  but  by  heeding  the 
lessons  these  had  taught,  and  applying  these  lessons 
to  their  subjects  as  their  modern  eyes  saw  them. 
They  used  Rembrandt's  light,  but  in  their  own  way ; 
they  used  Hals'  freedom  of  brush,  but  in  their  own 
manner.  It  was  a  reappearance  of  artistic  genius, 
influenced  by  changed  environment.  They  proved 
that  art  is  not  a  dead  gospel,  speaking  of  things 
that  are  past,  but  that  art  is  a  living  message  of 
each  day  and  generation,  with  its  own  ideas  to  solve 
the  problem  put  to  it.  And  if  we  can  trace  their 
patrimony  through  the  Barbizon  men  farther  back 
to  Constable,  and  through  him  to  their  own  Ruis- 
dael  and  Rembrandt,  who  will  deny  them,  never- 
theless, originality  of  thought  and  execution? 


I70  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbc  Tlctberlan^  ©alleries 

The  characteristics  which  have  made  great  the 
Modern  Dutch  School  are  bold  and  vigorous  brush- 
work,  absence  of  extreme  detail  whereby  a  wealth 
of  suggestion  is  produced,  a  masculine  directness 
of  presentation,  an  intimate  understanding,  sym- 
pathy and  love  of  the  life  and  nature  portrayed, 
and  withal  a  sterling,  sincere  individuality  whereby 
each  man  reveals  his  own  soul.  The  men  who  were 
the  prophets  to  deliver  art  from  dry  formalism, 
each  with  his  missive,  his  own  revelation,  wonder- 
fully complementing  one  another  to  cover  the  whole 
range  of  pictorial  art,  were  Johannes  Bosboom,  to 
show  anew  the  wonders  of  light  in  his  dim,  pillared 
churches;  Joseph  Israels,  to  portray  with  sympathy 
the  homes  and  occupations  of  peasants  and  fisher- 
men; Jacob  Maris,  to  paint  the  sky;  and  Anton 
Mauve,  to  reveal  with  tenderness  the  pastoral  po- 
etry and  the  atmospheric  beauty  of  landscape. 
These  four  men  are  the  leaders,  and  many,  almost 
equally  great,  worked  with  them  to  interpret  nature 
and  men  truthfully,  and,  therefore,  with  beauty. 
They  inaugurated  and  have  carried  on  the  new 
era  in  art  which  collectively  is  called  the  Modern 
Dutch  School,  and  which  has  influenced  the  art 
expression  of  many  modem  painters  of  other  na- 
tionalities. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  these  modern 
Dutchmen  have  also  exalted  a  medium  of  expres- 


Ube  fHf  Century  H)utcb  painters    171 

sion  which  has  rarely,  if  ever,  reached  the  height 
they  attained.  It  is  the  painting  of  water  colours 
or  aquarelles.  This  lighter  medium  lends  itself  to 
a  subtlety  and  poetry  which  oil-pigment  never  can 
produce;  and  with  scarcely  an  exception,  all  the 
modern  Dutch  artists  have  shown  a  thorough  mas- 
tery of  its  possibilities. 

The  first  one  of  those  who  raised  aloft  the  ban- 
ner of  supremacy  was  Johannes  Bosboom  (1817- 
1891).  His  place  is  unique,  because  he  chose  for 
his  principal  subjects  the  interiors  of  churches  — 
of  uncertain  interest  to  arouse  enthusiasm.  Those 
who  love  a  church  interior  for  religious  reasons 
cannot  find  anything  responding  to  devout  senti- 
ment in  Bosboom's  pictures.  Those  who  admire 
the  lofty  arches  of  these  mediaeval  edifices  for  ar- 
chitectural study  will  agree  that  Bosboom  as  an 
architectural  draughtsman  was  all  wrong.  But  the 
master  chose  these  spacious  interiors  for  their  shad- 
ows and  plays  of  light  streaming  through  the  high 
Gothic  windows,  the  mystery  and  poetry  of  light 
and  shade  playing  hide  and  seek  in  aisles  and  nave 
and  among  those  pillars.  And  he  painted  this 
with  ever  increasing  breadth  of  treatment,  whereby 
the  most  noticeable  characteristics  of  his  work  are 
spaciousness  and  height,  solidity  and  grace.  In  the 
beginning  he  painted  with  warm,  soft  colours, 
gradually  becoming  more   sparing   in  his   palette. 


172  XLbe  art  ot  tbc  "fletberlanb  Galleries 

His  water  colours,  of  which  he  painted  a  larger 
number  than  oils,  have  an  unusually  strong  expres- 
sion, with  the  solidity  of  oil  pigment,  yet  painted 
without  body-colour,  pure  aquarelle. 

Joseph  Israels  (born  1824),  who  at  the  age  of 
eighty-four  years  still  displays  his  creative  energy, 
is  duly  acclaimed  the  Nestor  of  the  modern  Dutch 
school.  He  was  born  in  Groningen  of  Jewish  par- 
ents, who  recognized  his  artistic  bent  and  sent  him 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  Amsterdam,  where  he  en- 
tered the  studio  of  Jan  Kruseman.  But  he  has 
himself  related  how  his  master  told  him  to  go  to 
the  old  Trippenhuis  and  study  Rembrandt's  light 
and  colour.  It  is  curious  to  note  that  his  enthusi- 
astic worship  of  the  King  of  Painters,  at  that 
time,  did  not  show  itself  in  his  own  work  until  long 
afterwards,  when  he  found  his  metier.  After  a  few 
years  of  work  in  Amsterdam  he  received  from  his 
father  a  small  annuity  to  study  in  Paris,  where  he 
attended  several  ateliers,  but  found  most  profit  in 
an  independent  study  of  the  masterpieces  of  the 
Louvre.  The  revolution  of  1848  drove  him  back 
to  Amsterdam,  where  he  sought  without  great  suc- 
cess to  find  recognition  with  historical  composi- 
tions. 

The  turning-point  of  his  career  came  when  ill- 
ness drove  him  to  find  absolute  rest  in  the,  then 
secluded,  little  fisher-village  of  Zandvoort,  in  the 


xrbe  flTf  Century  S)utcb  painters    173 

dunes  near  Haarlem.  There  his  genius  was  in- 
flamed by  the  poetic  beauty  of  simple  humanity,  by 
the  picturesque  cottage  interiors  and  types,  by  the 
beautiful  marine  views  and  the  rolling  background 
of  the  golden  dunes.  Even  these  early  presenta- 
tions of  subjects  wherewith  his  fame  is  coupled 
show  yet  the  same  tightness  of  handling  which  was 
his  manner  in  his  historical  pictures.  But  there- 
with was  allied  a  new  and  poetic  light  in  which  he 
bathes  his  outdoor  figures.  It  is  the  real  light  of 
the  long  evening,  when  a  bluish  haze  descends  over 
nature  with  the  evening  dew.  In  his  interiors  he 
then  at  last  denotes  the  chiaroscuro  which  was 
revealed  to  him  in  his  early  years  by  Rembrandt. 
His  colour  was  always  rich  and  deep,  but  with 
advancing  years  he  has  become  broader  and  broader 
in  his  brushwork,  while  he  also  showed  ever  more 
feeling,  more  atmosphere,  deeper  knowledge,  and 
greater  art.  This  brilliant  artist  may  truly  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  this  age,  and 
in  Holland  the  worthy  successor  of  Rembrandt. 

Not  until  the  fifties  do  we  see  both  Bosboom  and 
Israels  dethroning  entirely  the  historical  and  ro- 
mantic views  which  had  so  long  trammelled  the 
school  of  their  country,  and  bringing  forth  an  art, 
truly  racy  of  the  soil.  With  them  came  Jacob 
Maris  (1837-1899).  After  classic  training  in  the 
Antwerp  academy,  he  settled  in  Paris,  where  the 


174  XTbe  Brt  of  tbc  •Wetberlan&  Galleries 

elder  Hebert  disclaimed  the  ability  to  teach  him 
anything.  There  he  wrought  wonderful  figure 
pieces,  especially  of  children  in  rooms  of  artistic 
decors.  After  the  siege  of  Paris  in  1871,  through 
which  he  passed,  he  went  for  a  visit  to  his  native 
city  The  Hague,  but  he  became  so  enamoured  with 
the  canal,  bridge  and  mill  near  his  house,  which 
appear  so  often  in  his  pictures,  that  he  forsook 
all  foreign  ties,  and  devoted  himself  thereafter  ex- 
clusively to  Dutch  scenery.  At  first  his  work  was 
not  recognized  in  Holland.  Not  until  London  and 
Paris  resounded  with  his  name  did  he  receive  the 
reward  to  which  he  was  entitled  from  his  own 
countrymen.  But  if  they  may  have  been  slow  in 
acknowledging  the  master,  they  were  all  the  more 
sincere  and  earnest  when  they  did  discern  the 
genius  among  them.  The  present  verdict  concern- 
ing him  is  well  expressed  by  a  Dutch  writer: 
"  When  his  art  shall  also  belong  to  the  past,  Jacob 
Maris  will  be  named  in  one  breath  with  Ruisdael, 
Vermeer  van  Delft,  and  their  great  contempora- 
ries." 

The  art  of  Jacob  Maris  seeks  for  various  sub- 
jects and  depicts  them  equally  well.  Whether  canal 
banks,  with  horses  towing  the  heavy  barges,  plow- 
men at  work,  or  seashore  and  shipping,  or  town 
views  —  in  all  he  displays  strength  of  conception, 
grandeur  of  artistic  sense,  and  unsurpassed  tech- 


Ube  fll^  Centuri?  Dutcb  ipainters    175 

nical  skill.  And  with  all  this  he  is  the  greatest  sky 
painter  Holland  has  produced  in  the  19th  century. 
His  wind-driven  cumuli  against  an  azure  back- 
ground are  enchanting;  more  powerful  are  his  gray 
cloud  masses  that  dome  so  many  of  his  city  views. 
In  these  at  least  we  may  compare  and  exalt  the  ar- 
chitecture of  the  skies  over  the  architecture  of  men. 
His  landscapes  become  the  last  word  in  landscape 
art.  He  may  lack  the  poetry  of  Mauve,  the  deep, 
spiritual  feeling  of  Israels  —  on  the  other  hand  he 
is  the  richer  colourist,  who  with  loftiness  of  spirit 
and  a  giant's  strength  proclaims  the  beauty  of  this 
world.  Nor  are  his  landscapes  mere  transcripts  of 
nature.  He  is  too  free,  too  original  in  composition 
to  be  bound  tightly  by  actuality.  He  adds  to  or 
detracts  from  what  he  sees  to  give  us  the  image 
that  arises  at  the  bidding  of  his  genius  —  and  it 
is  well.  With  daring  freedom  he  generalizes  de- 
tails to  bring  forth  the  due  proportions  of  beauty. 
Whether  in  water  colour  or  in  oil  painting  he  has 
revealed  the  marvellous  splendour  of  the  fleeting 
spirit  of  landscape,  that  appeals  to  us  and  grows 
on  us  with  overwhelming  force. 

More  sympathetic  is  the  appeal  made  by  Anton 
Mauve  (1838-1888).  His  early  talent  was  recog- 
nized by  his  father,  a  Baptist  clergyman  at  Zaan- 
dam,  who  sent  him  to  P.  F.  van  Os  to  learn  the 
rudiments  of  the  art.     He  learned  there  the  con- 


176  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  iactberlan&  (Balleries 

ventional  manner  of  careful  drawing  and  high  fin- 
ish, adding  thereto  his  own  brilHant  colour.  And 
this  course  Anton  pursued  for  many  years,  until 
about  1865  he  came  under  the  influence  of  the  broad 
treatment  of  Joseph  Israels,  and  the  reality  of  na- 
ture's lights  as  depicted  by  Willem  Maris.  Then 
Mauve's  inherent  genius  commenced  to  express  it- 
self in  its  own  way.  His  manner  became  broader, 
his  touch  more  certain,  and  he  infused  the  personal 
element  into  his  painting.  His  gentle,  sympathetic, 
kindly  character  spoke  in  his  transcriptions  of  na- 
ture, which  always  have  a  tender  feeling,  a  breath 
of  peace  and  quietude,  a  revelation  of  the  serene, 
happy  pastoral  life  of  the  Dutch  peasant.  It  has 
been  said  that  a  note  of  sadness  is  inherent  in  his 
work,  when  he  portrays  the  toiling  labourer  of  the 
field.  I  cannot  see  this  anywhere  in  his  pictures. 
In  Millet's  work,  as  typified  by  "  The  Man  with 
the  Hoe,"  we  are  indeed  impressed  with  the  hope- 
less, grovelling  spirit  of  this  "  brother  of  the  ox." 
To  find  the  same  spirit  in  any  of  Mauve's  paint- 
ings is  to  be  utterly  ignorant  of  the  character  of  his 
models.  True,  they  toil  and  labour,  the  old  man 
is  trudging  homeward  behind  the  cattle  at  evening, 
the  women  are  bent  down  under  the  heavy  bags 
with  potatoes,  but  to  them  this  is  not  sadness,  nor 
even  conscious  weariness,  li  we  had  to  do  such 
things,  it  would  be  a  sad  case,  indeed.     But  the 


PIETER 
DE  HOOGH 


THE    BUTTERY 

Plate  XXIII 
(See   page   263) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Ubc  firj  Centura  H)utcb  painters    177 

philosophy  of  these  peasant-lives  is  to  do  the  hard 
work  in  the  day's  course  cheerfully,  and  contented 
with  their  lot.  They  are  happy  in  their  toil,  and  in 
the  rest  after  the  work  is  done.  Happier  by  far 
than  many  who  pity  them  and  do  not  have  to  slave. 
That  happiness  in  the  work  of  the  fields  Mauve 
recognized  in  his  neighbours  in  Laren,  where  he 
painted  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  and  with 
fascinating  charm  and  true  sympathy  he  shows  this 
to  us.  His  was  not  a  melancholy  nature.  Next 
to  painting  music  held  him  with  greatest  fascina- 
tion, and  his  nature  was  sensitive  to  the  finest,  most 
fugitive  impressions.  This  makes  his  paintings 
true  lyrics,  not  elegies  of  Dutch  peasant  life. 

Mauve  painted  the  flocks  of  sheep,  bunched  and 
huddled  together  on  the  heath  near  Laren,  or  pass- 
ing over  the  dune  stretches  near  The  Hague,  where 
he  also  lived  for  some  years;  or  he  showed  the 
cattle,  quietly  munching  in  the  meadow,  or  plodding 
along  the  road ;  or  he  gives  us  a  view  of  the  shady 
water  nooks.  And  we  always  find  in  his  work  the 
spirit  of  cheerful,  quiet  joy.  He  loved  his  subjects, 
he  loved  to  paint  them,  and  "  Nature  never  did  be- 
tray the  heart  that  loved  her."  The  favourite  col- 
our he  uses  is  that  fine,  light  gray-green  tone  that 
sings  of  the  freshness  of  the  morning,  or  a  brown- 
gray  tint  that  hails  the  coming  shades  of  eventime, 
and  over  all  is  spread  a  soft,  hazy  atmosphere  that 


178  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  fletberlanb  Galleries 

envelopes  everything  in  its  mysterious  folds.  To 
him  the  world  was  beautiful,  and  he  makes  it  beau- 
tiful to  us  —  which  is  the  secret  of  the  fascinating 
spell  which  all  his  paintings  or  water  colours  cast 
over  us. 

A  paradoxical  peculiarity  of  Dutch  landscape 
painting  is  not  generally  understood.  By  far  the 
majority  of  these  landscapes  that  breathe  so  fully 
and  deeply  the  air  of  out-of-doors  are  studio- 
painted.  Very  few  are  painted  direct  from  nature. 
Mauve  did  this  only  in  his  latest  years,  Jacob  Maris 
never,  and  few  of  the  Dutch  artists  to-day  set  up 
canvas  and  easel  by  the  roadside  or  in  the  field. 
But  they  do  paint  numerous  sketches  and  studies, 
and  make  many  characterful,  spirited  drawings 
after  close  observation,  from  which  they  built  up 
their  compositions  at  home.  This  is  not  set  down 
to  establish  a  theory,  only  to  note  a  practice.  How 
successful  they  are  in  concealing  the  art  that  pro- 
duces their  art  accounts  for  the  popularity  of  these 
artists  tc^-day. 

After  having  placed  these  four  leaders  at  the 
head  of  the  modern  Dutch  school,  we  may  now 
turn  to  a  score  of  painters  who  have  laboured  with 
them  to  make  their  company  glorious.  Some  of 
these  have  already  departed  this  life,  others  are 
still  wielding  their  brush  with  power.  Their  com- 
parison with  these  four  masters  is  not  invidious, 


XCbe  ffff  Century  2)utcb  Bbafnters   179 

for  with  almost  equal  enthusiasm  are  we  compelled 
to  speak  of  men  like  Weissenbruch,  Matthys  Maris, 
Willem  Maris,  Neuhuys,  Blommers,  Mesdag,  Roe- 
lofs,  de  Bock  and  others.  Nor  was  the  influence 
these  four  leaders  have  exerted  on  the  Dutch  paint- 
ers to-day  entirely  one-sided,  for  even  they  learned 
—  Weissenbruch  affected  Israels,  as  Willem  Maris 
influenced  Mauve. 

The  earliest  one  of  the  score  of  painters  which 
we  will  now  consider  was  J.  B.  Jongkind  (1819- 
1891).  As  a  pupil  of  Schelfhout  he  did  not  find 
his  master's  style  suitable  to  his  own  artistic  feel- 
ing, and  he  went  to  Paris  to  learn  from  Isabey  the 
secret  of  romantic  colour.  Soon  he  developed  this 
in  a  manner  all  his  own,  and,  while  retaining  his 
residence  in  France,  he  spent  his  sketching  summers 
along  his  native  coasts  and  infiltrated  his  work  with 
the  Dutch  spirit.  His  work  is  unique  in  that  it 
presents  Dutch  method  and  feeling  ingrafted  upon 
a  subdued  though  brilliant  colour  expression. 

J.  H.  Weissenbruch  (1824-1903)  was  entirely 
native  in  his  art.  His  early  talent  was  so  apparent 
that  his  master  Schelfhout  offered  him  a  place  in 
his  own  studio  when  the  young  artist  was  proficient 
enough  to  leave  him.  But  by  the  advice  of  Bos- 
boom  he  set  up  for  himself  and  went  to  nature  for 
further  inspiration.  For  many  years  he  adhered 
to  the  academic  manner  of  careful,  painstaking,  de- 


i8o  Zbc  art  of  tbe  "fletberlanb  Oallerted 

tailed  work;  until  he  gradually  discovered  that  na- 
ture is  not  made  up  of  trees  that  come  out  of 
Nuremberg  toy-boxes.  He  saw  that  a  tree,  if  seen 
in  its  proper  place  in  a  landscape,  consists  princi- 
pally of  colour  and  light  reflections.  That  hence 
much  detail  should  be  left  to  the  imagination,  and 
only  the  essentials  suggested;  that  technical  per- 
fection does  not  always  teach  how  to  paint,  but 
also,  negatively,  what  not  to  paint.  And  as  Weis- 
senbruch  found  himself  he  gave  with  ever  increas- 
ing simplicity  and  suggestiveness  those  broad  ex- 
panses of  sea,  sky,  and  shore,  with  only  a  boat  in 
the  offing,  or  a  small  figure  on  the  strand,  which 
have  his  wonderful  beauty  of  lines,  tones  and  val- 
ues. He  did  not  strive  much  for  the  beauty  of 
physical  topography;  but  when  he  depicts  the  sun 
struggling  through  stormy  clouds,  or  indicates 
space  by  the  admirable  perspective  he  produces 
through  the  receding  values  of  a  gray  sky,  he  com- 
poses a  nature-poem  full  of  beauty  and  tenderness 
and  feeling.  The  paucity  of  materials  he  uses  to 
build  up  his  scene  is  startling  —  just  a  bit  of  water, 
a  few  reeds  and  a  far-off  boat;  a  windmill  and 
a  big  sky;  a  few  cattle  standing  in  drowned  land, 
make  his  picture  —  yet  it  is  never  empty,  never 
cold  and  lifeless,  for  we  hear  the  loud  voices  which 
dreamland  sends  through  solitude,  and  discern 
moods  of  nature  that  attune  us  and  appeal  to  us. 


Ubc  ffff  Centura?  Dutcb  painters    iSi 

His  cousin,  Jan  Weissenbruch  (1822-1880),  re- 
tained the  careful  manner  of  the  early  men  in 
neatly  executed  city  views,  especially  the  pictur- 
esque nooks  of  old  cities  and  villages,  as  Nymwe- 
gen,  Oudewater,  Vreeswyk,  etc. 

More  in  Jan  Hendrik's  manner  was  the  work  of 
Willem  Roelofs  (1822-1897),  who  retained  the 
fire  of  youth  to  his  old  age  in  the  study  of  his 
beloved  Holland  landscapes.  Only  in  later  life  did 
he  add  cattle  to  the  etoffoge  of  his  pictures,  prin- 
cipally inspired  thereto  by  his  admiration  of  Troy- 
on's  bovine  models.  At  first  he  was  satisfied  with 
little  to  express  himself.  A  puddle  with  white 
water  lilies,  a  corner  of  a  sloot  (the  water  ditch 
separating  meadows),  or  a  bunch  of  willows,  were 
sufficient  for  him  to  give  a  most  sensitive  and 
poetic  interpretation  of  nature  with  great  delicacy 
of  touch,  which  gradually  broadened  into  vigour. 

P.  J.  G.  Gabriel  (1828-1903)  was  an  intimate 
admirer  of  Mauve's  first  sketching  ground  near 
Oosterbeek.  Here,  and  around  Brussels,  and  later 
near  The  Hague,  he  painted  many  beautiful 
stretches,  preferring,  however,  the  sunny  side  of 
the  day. 

Christofifel  Bisschop  (1828-1904)  was  bom  in 
Leeuwarden,  Friesland,  where  his  father  put  him 
to  classic  studies.  But  the  school  books  of  young 
ChristoflFel  were  covered  with  drawings,  much  to 


i82  Ube  art  of  tbe  fletberlanb  Galleries 

the  horror  of  his  parent,  for  in  that  time  the  Fries- 
landers  could  scarcely  have  distinguished  an  artist 
from  an  acrobat.  But  after  his  father's  death  he 
was  allowed  by  his  mother  to  devote  himself  to  art. 
In  Delft  he  learned  the  rudiments  from  W.  H. 
Schmidt,  who  had  an  extended  reputation,  and 
afterwards  the  young  painter  went  to  Paris.  He 
acquired  there  that  characteristic  love  for  cotdeur 
locale,  which  has  made  him  the  brilliant  colourist 
among  the  Dutch  genre  painters  of  his  time.  On 
his  return  to  The  Hague  he  devoted  himself  with 
ardour  to  the  study  of  the  richly  coloured  peasants' 
costumes  worn  in  Friesland.  The  beautiful  Frisian 
interiors,  filled  with  antique  furniture,  brasses  and 
pottery,  which  he  painted  in  oil  and  water  colour, 
have  become  splendid  records  of  this  picturesque 
Northern  province.  They  shine  and  sparkle  with 
gem-like  gleam  in  their  rich,  strong  colours. 

J.  H.  L.  de  Haas  was  born  in  Gelderland  in  1832, 
but  has  lived  in  Brussels  since  middle  age.  When 
we  regard  his  successful  work  of  a  half-century 
we  note,  as  we  do  in  Gabriel,  the  Flemish  influence 
of  richer  colour,  although  de  Haas  had  the  same 
teacher  as  Mauve,  P.  van  Os,  and  painted  with 
Mauve  around  Oosterbeek.  His  favourite  subjects 
are  red-brown  cattle  in  green  landscape,  or  donkeys 
in  the  dunes  near  Ostend.  His  cousin,  M.  F.  H.  de 
Haas  (1832-1895),  was  a  marine  painter  who  early 


Ube  fH^  Centura  H)utcb  painters    183 

in  life  settled  in  America,  where  he  attained  dis- 
tinction and  success. 

The  well-known  cat  painter  Henriette  Ronner 
(1821-1904)  also  removed  to  Brussels.  The  deeper 
colour  which  these  emigrants  from  Holland  affected 
seemed  to  have  appealed  more  to  their  Belgian 
neighbours  than  to  their  Northern  compatriots. 

Jacob  Taanman  (born  in  1836)  was  a  genre 
painter  of  convention,  nor  did  Philip  L.  F.  Sadee 
(1837-1904)  ever  leave  quite  the  Dusseldorf  man- 
ner, which  he  acquired  in  that  German  city  during 
his  long  residence  there.  His  typical  views  of  the 
fisherman's  life,  at  home  and  while  at  work  on  the 
beach,  are  presented  with  painstaking  exactitude. 

W.  C.  Nakken  (born  1835)  has  become  well- 
known  for  the  vigorous  draughtsmanship  wherein 
he  presents  Normandy  dray-horses.  In  many  of 
his  works  he  excels  Rosa  Bonheur  in  true  artistic 
feeling. 

Our  chronological  order  brings  us  now  to  one  of 
the  leaders  of  the  present  Dutch  school.  H.  W. 
Mesdag  was  bom  in  Groningen  in  183 1,  where  he 
remained  in  the  banking  business  until  his  thirty- 
fifth  year.  This  early  training  in  mercantile  and 
financial  business  has  made  Mesdag  a  thorough 
man  of  affairs,  one  whose  administrative  talents 
have  been  invaluable  in  promoting  the  knowledge 
of  the  modem  Dutch  school  in  foreign  countries. 


i84  Xlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlan?)  (Ballertes 

He  had  always  loved  art  and  in  an  amateurish  way 
devoted  himself  to  drawing  and  painting,  until  in 
1866  he  went  to  Brussels,  where  his  relative  Alma 
Tadema  was  then  living.  There  he  frequented  the 
studios  of  Tadema  and  of  Roelofs,  but  when  two 
years  later  he  spent  the  summer  season  at  Norder- 
ney  he  found  his  milieu,  and  henceforth  devoted 
himself  with  ardour  to  the  painting  of  the  sea. 
In  1869  he  settled  in  The  Hague,  where  neighbour- 
ing Scheveningen  has  become  his  vantage  point  to 
study  and  portray  those  fine  combinations  of  sky 
and  water  which  have  become  famous.  His  first 
great  success  came  with  a  large  marine  he  sent  to 
Paris  in  1870,  which  was  bought  by  the  painter 
Chaplin,  and  on  account  of  which  Millet,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  jury,  sent  him  a  letter  of  hearty 
congratulations.  Thereby  encouraged,  he  continued 
with  energy  and  sturdy  determination  to  perfect 
himself  in  his  art  by  incessant  study.  His  recog- 
nition as  one  of  the  greatest  marine  painters  of  the 
present  time  is  universal. 

His  wife,  Mrs.  S.  Mesdag-van  Houten,  bom  in 
Groningen  in  1834,  did  not  touch  a  drawing  pencil 
until  1870,  when  they  were  settled  in  The  Hague. 
She  tried  at  first  still  life,  but  found  later  attrac- 
tion and  inspiration  in  the  heath  landscape,  with  its 
solitary  cottages,  its  sheep  fold,  and  its  sombre 
quiet.     These  she  depicts  with  stately  simplicity, 


GABRIEL 
METSU 


THE    MUSIC   LOVERS 

Plate  XXIV 

{See    page    -113) 


Mauritshuis 
The  Hague 


Ube  fHf  Century  Dutcb  ipafnters    185 

and  with  a  beautiful  harmony  of  grayish  tones, 
that  affects  one  hypnotically.  In  her  still  lives  we 
find  many  of  the  magnificent  Japanese  and  Chinese 
vases  that  are  among  the  important  numbers  in  the 
Mesdag  Museum. 

D.  A.  C.  Artz  (1837-1890)  must  be  ranked 
among  the  foremost  of  the  Dutch  painters.  He 
received  his  first  tuition  at  the  Amsterdam  academy, 
and  from  Joseph  Israels.  When  he  had  left  for 
Paris  in  1866  he  became  soon  acquainted  with 
Courbet,  who  advised  him  to  hire  a  studio  and  a 
model  and  —  shut  his  door  to  every  one.  Artz 
followed  this  advice,  more  or  less,  and  began  to 
paint  all  kinds  of  subjects,  even  Japanese  women. 
His  associates,  Jacob  and  Matthys  Maris  and  Kaem- 
merer,  encouraged  him  and  criticized  his  work,  and 
Artz  acquired  that  facility  of  handling  which  shows 
itself  in  all  his  work,  in  the  ease  of  his  figures,  and 
the  sureness  of  his  drawing.  After  eight  years  he 
returned  to  Holland,  where  he  chose  the  picturesque 
life  of  the  Scheveningen  fisherfolk  for  his  genre. 
Artz  resembles  Israels  in  many  ways,  but  possesses 
greater  delicacy  of  colour,  and  less  vigorous  brush- 
ing. 

August  Allebe  (bom  1838  in  Amsterdam)  is  the 
son  of  a  well-known  physician,  who  was  one  of  the 
prominent  advocates  of  "  Father  Jahn,"  the  orig- 
inator of  physical  culture.     The  young  artist  had 


i86  JLbc  Hrt  of  tbe  "ffletbcdant)  Galleries 

extensive  opportunities  for  study  and  travel,  which 
resulted  in  a  number  of  small  genre  pictures  of  sure 
drawing,  thorough  handling,  full  of  feeling,  and 
unusually  fine  in  colour  and  tone.  After  awhile 
he  added  excellent  animal  studies  from  the  Amster- 
dam Zoological  Gardens,  but  since  his  appointment 
in  1880  as  instructor  at  the  Ryks  Academy,  of 
which  to-day  he  is  the  Director-in-chief,  he  has  not 
been  able  to  produce  much  original  work.  The  loss 
to  art  on  this  account  has  been  offset,  however,  by 
the  many  prominent  and  promising  men  who  owe 
to  him  their  first  guidance. 

Otto  Eerelman  (born  1839)  is  a  well-known 
painter  of  dogs,  who  has  also  attempted  historical 
subjects. 

Jonkheer  Charles  Storm  van  s'Gravesande,  bom 
in  Breda  in  1841,  is  one  of  the  most  noted  etchers 
of  Europe,  rivalling  Seymour  Haden,  Haig,  Rops, 
and  even  Whistler  in  the  stylic  art.  This  ever 
youthful  master  has  also  turned  in  his  later  years 
with  great  success  to  landscape  painting. 

One  of  the  most  original  of  the  Dutch  artists, 
concerning  whom  the  most  varying  opinions  pre- 
vail, is  Matthys  Maris  (bom  1839).  He  has,  for 
some  years  now,  been  residing  in  London,  but  he 
calls  himself  Thys  Maris  to  boast  of  his  Dutch 
allegiance.  With  his  brother  Jacob  he  went  at  first 
to  the  Antwerp  Academy,  where  he  came  under  the 


Zbc  flf  Century  H)utcb  |^ainters    187 

Romantic  influence  which  still  held  sway  there. 
On  a  trip  to  Cologne  he  admired  greatly  the  draw- 
ings of  Kaulbach,  Rethuel,  and  other  modern 
German  painters.  After  a  journey  through  the 
Schwarzwald  his  early  works  were  produced,  which 
show  more  pictorial  features  with  fine  colour,  per- 
fect tone,  and  poetic  realism.  These  are  executed 
with  care  and  delicacy  and  consummate  skill.  Af- 
ter 1880  we  find  him  revelling  in  dreamland,  and 
his  fairylike  pictures  assume  a  weird,  fantastic  ex- 
pression in  which  the  poetic  sentiment  predom- 
inates. Thys  Maris  has  gradually  drawn  away 
from  any  school  expression  and  stands  unique  in  his 
mysterious  aloofness  among  the  great  painters  of 
modern  times.  While  some  may  more  admire  his 
earlier  works  with  their  beauty  of  colour  and  deli- 
cate draughtsmanship  of  form,  others  will  with 
greater  avidity  turn  to  the  more  typical  product  of 
his  later  years  —  elusive,  vague,  strangely  suggest- 
ive, even  haunting.  He  abandons  almost  com- 
pletely material  form  to  get  more  of  the  spiritual 
essence.  His  vague  drawing  only  suggests  in 
pearly  gray  and  delicately  brown  tones  the  fantasies 
of  his  poet's  brain,  and  these  have  a  fascination 
and  charm  of  striking  originality.  G.  H.  Marius, 
the  Dutch  critic,  describes  him  as,  "  A  dreamer  from 
the  misty  North,  a  Gothic  disposition  with  the 
touch  of  a  van  Eyck,  with  the  culture  of  a  da  Vinci ; 


i88  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  "Retberlan^  ©alleries 

a  visionary,  wandering  and  lost  in  these  unsettled 
times;  a  stranger  whose  sensitiveness  prevents  him 
from  making  friends;  an  idealist,  proof  against 
the  materialism  of  to-day;  a  lonely  man  in  every 
sense  of  the  word."  This  artist  is  also  renowned 
as  an  etcher,  and  again  in  this  he  is  original,  for  it 
is  not  etching  in  its  purest  form,  that  is,  to  express 
the  subject  with  pure  line,  as  Whistler,  Rembrandt, 
or  Seymour  Haden  have  done.  He  works  all  over 
the  plate  to  secure  soft,  rich  tones,  of  which  he 
has  given  a  marvellous  example  in  a  plate  after 
Millet's  "  Sower,"  which  deepens  even  the  mysteri- 
ous halo  of  the  original. 

It  is  remarkable  that  in  one  family  three  broth- 
ers should  have  attained  supreme  eminence  as  art- 
ists. Willem  Maris  (bom  1844  in  The  Hague) 
is  the  third  one  of  the  trio.  His  only  instruction 
was  received  from  his  six  years  older  brother  Jacob. 
His  careful  drawings  of  this  time,  his  studies  of 
cows,  sheep  and  ducks,  of  reeds  and  water  plants 
are  so  thoroughly  what  real  drawing  should  be  that 
they  can  only  be  compared  with  the  crayon  work 
of  Durer  or  Holbein.  His  first  oil  painting  was 
as  minute  and  explicit  as  his  drawing,  but  like  all 
the  men  of  his  school  he  grew  broader  in  touch 
with  later  years,  sacrificing  details  to  enlarge  the 
general  impression.  Still  not  a  brush  stroke  is 
without  meaning  or  not  in  thorough  harmony  with 


Ubz  ftf  Century  Dutcb  painters    189 

the  whole.  His  is  a  sunny  nature,  and  his  land- 
scapes are  generally  bathed  in  sunlight.  While 
most  artists  in  sketching  from  nature  will  sit  with 
their  back  to  the  sun,  thereby  working  in  their  own 
shadow  and  allowing  the  light  to  fall  on  the  scene 
before  them,  Willem  Maris  always  paints  with  the 
sun  in  his  face  —  and  somehow  he  seems  to  get 
greater  brilliancy  and  sparkle  in  his  work.  His 
favourite  subjects  are  cattle  standing  in  the  soft, 
oozy  meadows,  or  in  the  "  Melkhocht,"  the  milking 
corner.  And  it  matters  not  how  often  he  paints 
these,  the  ever  changing  light  effect  produces  a 
multitude  of  impressions  whereby  not  two  of  his 
cattle  pieces  are  alike.  While  impeccable  in  his 
anatomical  portrayal  of  cattle,  it  is  more  to  him  to 
hit  off  the  light  flashes  that  reflect  from  their  shi- 
ning flanks,  or  the  rich  brilliancy  absorbed  by  the 
darker  spots  on  their  coats.  In  these  brightly  lit 
meadow  scenes  Willem  Maris  becomes  one  of  the 
greater  Luminarists  of  the  present  day.  And  as 
Monet  painted  over  thirty  views  of  the  Cathedral 
of  Rouen,  and  an  equal  number  of  Thames  views 
with  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  to  show  the  same 
subject  under  different  conditions  of  light  and  at- 
mosphere, so  we  see  Willem  Maris  paint  with  equal 
fecundity  the  same  cattle  landscape  with  innumer- 
able nuances  of  sunlight  and  hazy  vapour.  In  addi- 
tion hg  pften  paints  ducks  in  cool,  shadowy  comers 


I90  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  iaetberlan&  (Balleries 

of  a  pond  under  the  rich,  green  trees  with  equal 
beauty  and  with  the  fresh  breath  of  nature. 

Albert  Neuhuys  was  born  in  the  same  year,  1844, 
in  Utrecht.  His  aspirations  towards  art  met  with 
opposition  from  his  father,  who  ultimately  con- 
sented to  his  son  taking  up  lithography  as  being 
more  lucrative  and  less  uncertain  than  painting. 
But  his  master  Craeyvanger  soon  discovered  the 
talents  of  his  pupil  and,  contrary  to  his  agreement 
with  the  father,  encouraged  and  aided  the  young 
man  to  devote  himself  to  the  higher  art.  This  had, 
however,  to  be  done  surreptitiously,  until  one  day 
the  father  beheld  some  of  his  son's  work  on  exhi- 
bition in  a  dealer's  shop  window.  Young  Albert's 
success  won  the  day,  and  he  was  sent  to  the  Ant- 
werp Academy,  and  after  four  years  he  settled  in 
Amsterdam.  For  a  time  he  painted  fantastic 
knights  and  dames  of  a  past  epoch,  but  on  becom- 
ing acquainted  with  Mauve  he  took  a  look  at  the 
peasant  homes  of  Laren,  which  dispelled  any  ambi- 
tions he  may  have  had  to  excel  as  an  historical 
painter.  With  enthusiasm  he  painted  then  the  in- 
teriors with  figures  for  which  he  has  become  fa- 
mous. In  these  he  displays  fine  feeling,  sympathy 
with  his  models,  especially  the  children,  and  a  rich, 
warm  palette.  He  comes  near  in  ranking  with 
Israels  and  Jacob  Maris  among  the  present-day 
Dutch   painters.      His   brother   and   pupil,   Joseph 


JLDc  Jlf  Centura?  Dutcb  painters    191 

Hendrik  (1841-1890),  affected  more  the  open-air 
landscape. 

B.  J.  Blommers  (born  in  The  Hague  in  1845) 
is  the  equal  of  Neuhuys  in  portraying  the  peasants' 
homes  of  Brabant,  or  the  fisher  folk  of  Schevenin- 
gen.  His  pictures  appeal  to  popular  taste  by  their 
charming  colour  and  the  intimate,  kindly  person- 
ality of  the  subjects.  He  has  a  knack  of  combi- 
ning beauty  with  strength. 

Jan  Vrolyk  (1845-1894)  early  forsook  the  meth- 
ods of  his  master  Stortenbeker,  and  painted  in  the 
full  spirit  of  the  rejuvenated  school  his  delightful, 
atmospheric  landscapes  with  cattle. 

Gerke  Henkes  (bom  in  Del f shaven  in  1844) 
commenced  his  career  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  a 
notary  in  that  little  town.  Here  he  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  the  typical  characters  of  the  lower 
bourgeoisie,  which  have  almost  entirely  disap- 
peared, but  are  now  recorded  in  his  pictures. 
Henkes  is  an  indefatigable  worker,  whose  scru- 
pulous love  of  detail,  while  adding  to  the  archival 
value  of  his  compositions,  detracts  somewhat  from 
their  artistic  merit. 

Margaretha  Roosenboom  (1843 -1893),  the 
grand-daughter  of  Schelfhout,  was  married  to 
J.  G.  Vogel,  himself  an  artist.  Her  roses  and 
camellias,  painted  against  a  simple  background, 
must  be  regarded  among  the  best  of  flower  pieces. 


192  trbe  art  of  the  IRetberlanD  (Ballcries 

Pieter  ter  Meulen  (born  1843)  was  at  first  sent 
to  the  Latin  school  for  classical  studies,  but  before 
entering  the  University  he  commenced  painting 
under  the  guidance  of  H.  van  de  Sande  Bakhuysen. 
A  few  years  of  this  discouraged  him  and  he  went 
to  Leyden  University,  where  he  became  Bachelor 
of  Letters.  On  moving  to  The  Hague  in  1874  the 
old  love  of  art  rekindled  and  he  became  enchanted 
with  the  works  of  Israels,  the  Maris  brothers,  Bos- 
boom,  and  Mauve.  Although  he  had  lost  the  best 
years  of  preparation,  he  took  up  anew  the  brush 
and  palette  and  with  determination  entered  upon 
his  artistic  career.  The  large  number  of  works, 
mostly  sheep  paintings,  which  he  produced,  resem- 
ble in  subject  those  of  Mauve,  but  are  still  entirely 
personal  in  conception  and  distinct  in  colour  and 
general  effect. 

Theophile  de  Bock  (1851-1904)  began  life  in  the 
employ  of  a  railway  company,  but  he  quickly  re- 
linquished this  position  for  the  practice  of  art,  in 
which  he  was  initiated  by  Weissenbruch.  After 
assiduously  pursuing  his  studies  he  sent  a  painting 
to  a  Hague  exhibition,  where  it  was  accepted,  but 
on  opening  day  it  was  immediately  dubbed  "  that 
ugly  gray  thing."  There  it  hung,  a  butt  of  gibes, 
until  Jacob  Maris,  just  returned  from  France,  pur- 
chased it.  This  somewhat  changed  the  tone  of  ridi- 
cule.    Maris  was   so   far  attracted  to  the  young 


JAN   VERMEER 
VAN  DELFT 


THE    KITCHEN    MAID 

Plate   XXV 
{See  page  257) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


trbe  f  f  f  denture  Dutcb  {painters     193 

artist  that  he  took  de  Bock  into  his  studio,  and 
after  a  few  years  advised  him  to  go  to  Fontaine- 
bleau.  There  the  Barbizon  atmosphere  greatly  cap- 
tivated the  Hollander,  without  materially  affecting 
his  individuality.  On  his  return  to  Holland  he 
painted  on  the  Drenthe  heaths  and  the  downs  near 
The  Hague,  where  he  found  those  rough-shaped 
beeches  and  birches,  which  are  so  effectively  intro- 
duced in  his  landscapes.  He  was  a  rapid  transcriber 
of  the  impressions  nature  gave  him.  His  work  is 
intensely  personal,  and  his  fame  has  greatly  aug- 
mented, principally  in  America  —  alas,  not  until 
after  the  master  laid  down  his  brushes. 

Having  noted  the  leading  men,  born  in  the  first 
half  of  the  last  century,  who  have  contributed  to 
the  revival  of  Dutch  art,  the  majority  of  whom 
belong  now  to  the  immediate  past,  I  must  enumer- 
ate a  number  of  artists,  born  in  the  second  half  of 
that  century,  most  of  whom  are  of  the  living  pres- 
ent, and  who  are  represented  in  the  Netherland 
Galleries. 

Louis  Apol  (born  1850)  learned  of  Stortenbeker, 
but  finds  his  inspiration  in  nature,  which  he  depicts 
with  freer  touch  than  his  master,  and  an  agreeable 
colour  scheme.  His  landscapes,  both  of  summer 
and  winter  scenes,  are  very  attractive. 

Karel  Klinkenberg  (bom  185 1)  was  most  influ- 
enced by  C.   Bisschop,   whose  sharp  contrasts   of 


194  ^bc  Hrt  of  tbe  flctberlanD  Galleries 

light  and  shade  are  also  found  in  the  sun  effects 
which  KHnkenberg  displays  in  his  city  views. 
These  corners  of  streets  and  grachten  in  The 
Hague  and  Amsterdam,  of  which  the  artist  has 
produced  many,  are  brilliantly  lighted  and  executed 
with  great  application  of  detail,  yet  dispensing  with 
the  lower  truth  of  photographic  accuracy. 

Herman  J.  van  der  Weele  (born  1852)  studied 
painting  while  earning  his  living  as  teacher  of 
drawing.  He  was  greatly  influenced  by  Mauve, 
whose  subjects  he  follows  without  falling  into 
slavish  imitation.  His  are  strong,  healthy  impres- 
sions of  outdoors  —  an  old  woman  gathering  fag- 
ots, or  a  flock  of  sheep  in  a  shady  comer,  or  an 
autumn  scene. 

Therese  Schwartze  (born  1852)  is  the  daughter 
of  a  worthy  portrait  painter,  George  Schwartze, 
who  died  in  1874.  Soon  after  his  death  the  tal- 
ented young  woman  went  to  Munich  and  painted 
there  for  two  years  under  the  influence  of  Gabriel 
Max,  Piloty,  and  especially  of  Lenbach.  Piloty 
said  to  her :  "  H  you  were  a  man  you  would  ac- 
complish many  things;  your  feminine  want  of  self- 
confidence  will  always  stand  in  your  light,  unless 
you  learn  how  to  throw  off  this  timidity,  and  be- 
come an  independent  being."  This  independence 
she  has  fully  acquired,  especially  through  the  wise 
hints  of  her  father's  old  friend,  Joseph  Israels. 


XTbe  JH^  Centuri?  S)utcb  painters     195 

To-day  she  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  portrait 
painters,  who,  without  exaggerating  breadth  of 
handhng,  gives  body  and  sculpturesque  roundness 
to  her  human  documents.  Her  counterfeit  of  the 
Boer  General  Piet  Joubert  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  finest  portraits  in  the  Paris  1900  Exposition  for 
its  force  and  ripeness.  While  she  has  painted  a 
good  many  figure  pieces,  she  is  most  popularly  ac- 
claimed for  her  charming  Orphan  Girls  in  the 
municipal  black  and  red  costumes  of  Amsterdam. 

George  Poggenbeek  (1852-1903),  whose  death 
came  all  too  soon,  was  one  of  the  most  promising 
of  Dutch  artists,  racy  of  the  soil,  and  by  nature 
fitted  to  portray  the  beauty  and  charm  of  its  land- 
scape. Influenced  by  Mauve,  he  painted  much  with 
his  friend  Bastert  in  the  province  of  Utrecht,  where 
the  most  picturesque  bits  of  Dutch  scenery  are 
found.  He  delighted  in  meadow  scenes,  studded 
with  cows,  browsing  by  the  sloot  (the  muddy 
ditches  that  run  in  straight  course  through  the 
meadows),  or  lying  under  the  shade  of  sunlit  trees, 
chewing  the  cud  of  contentment.  Like  Willem 
Maris  he  has  also  given  charming  views  of  shady 
duck  ponds. 

Nicolas  Bastert  (born  1854)  equals  him  in  the 
charm  of  well-composed  country  scenes,  often  with 
old,  thatched-roof  peasant  houses.  His  pictures 
are  atmospheric  and  full  of  tonal  quality. 


196  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  IRetberlant)  (Ballcrfes 

Jan  van  Essen  (born  in  Amsterdam  in  1854) 
was  educated  for  commerce  but  inclined  to  art,  for 
which  he  entered  Greive's  studio.  At  first  he 
painted  the  typical  characters  of  the  Amsterdam 
bourgeoisie,  then  he  changed  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  **  Zoo,"  lions  and  tigers  and  other  captives. 
He  also  made  some  capital  still  lives,  as,  for  in- 
stance, a  dead  heron  and  a  hare,  which  is  as  good 
as  a  Fyt  or  a  Snyders.  It  was  after  a  meeting 
with  the  famous  English  animal  painter  Swan  that 
he  commenced  to  devote  himself  to  animal  genre. 
Under  the  influence  of  Jacob  Maris  he  turned  to 
landscape,  views  of  the  dunes  and  the  heath,  which 
are  immensely  interesting  and  beautiful.  His  work 
is  perfected  with  every  technical  resource,  and  is 
still  attractive  by  the  simplicity  of  its  conception. 
Van  Essen  is  a  passionate  hunter,  and  some  years 
ago  he  had  the  misfortune,  through  the  careless- 
ness of  a  companion,  to  lose  his  left  hand  —  the 
one  that  holds  the  "  mahlstick  "  —  but  it  does  not 
seem  to  make  any  difference  to  our  artist,  for  he 
paints  just  as  well  as  ever,  and  better. 

His  fellow  pupil  in  Greive's  studio,  J.  S.  H. 
Kever  (bom  1854),  has  been  less  fitful  in  his 
choice  of  subjects.  From  the  first  he  chose  the 
peasant  homes  of  Laren  for  his  setting,  and  the 
children  of  these  homes,  by  preference,  as  his  dra- 
matis personae.     And  few  painters  have  given  as 


XTbc  f ff  Century  S)utcb  painters     197 

sympathetic,  lovely  portrayals  of  child  life  as  he 
has  done.  The  little,  blond  curly-heads  at  play  in 
the  low  cottage  room  are  fascinating  in  their  un- 
conscious attitudes.  The  perfect  ease  and  sureness 
of  his  drawing,  the  sparing  and  yet  richly  harmoni- 
ous colour  scheme,  the  spiritual  significance,  these 
all  combine  to  make  his  compositions  noteworthy. 
His  outdoor  settings,  in  which  occasionally  these 
country  children  romp  and  play,  have  likewise  a 
penetrating,  poetic  charm. 

It  took  J.  H.  Wysmuller  (born  in  Amsterdam, 
1855)  some  time  to  decide  on  an  artistic  career. 
After  having  pursued  various  avocations  he  was 
at  last  aroused  to  the  talent  he  possessed.  Then 
he  gave  himself  with  energy  to  acquire  the  rudi- 
ments of  art,  and  soon  he  was  able  to  produce 
beach  views,  river  scenes,  and  comers  of  Old- Am- 
sterdam, that  attracted  merited  attention.  He  pre- 
fers the  soft,  grayish  autumn  tints,  often  also  the 
snowy  mantle  covering  the  ground,  on  which  a 
luminous,  yellow  sky  is  reflected.  He  is  an  arduous 
worker  of  great  producing  power. 

H.  W.  Jansen  (born  1855)  wanders  among  the 
docks  of  Amsterdam  with  their  shipping,  and  along 
the  market  squares  and  the  canals  of  the  old  city. 
He  has  acquired  a  separate  place  among  Dutch 
artists  for  the  choice  of  these  subjects,  and  the 
forceful,  tangible  manner  in  which  he  depicts  them. 


xqS  Zbc  an  of  tbc  laetberlant)  Galleries 

F.  J.  du  Chattel  (born  1856)  may  be  called  the 
poet  of  Dutch  landscape.  His  views  along  the 
Vecht,  a  little  river  near  Amsterdam,  are  idyllic 
in  their  captivating  charm.  No  painter  has  shown 
so  well  the  Arcadian  loveliness  of  certain  out-of- 
the-way  nooks  of  little  Holland.  He  pictures  these 
with  dainty  grace,  yet  without  effeminate  weakness, 
for  technical  mastery  justifies  the  achievement. 

Willy  Martens  (born  in  the  Dutch  East  Indies 
in  1856)  completed  the  course  in  the  Commercial 
High  school  of  Amsterdam,  after  which  he  was 
allowed  to  devote  himself  to  art.  He  studied  first 
under  Allebe,  and  on  his  arrival  in  Paris  entered 
the  studios  of  Bonat  and  of  Cormon.  For  ten  years 
he  remained  in  the  French  capital,  where  by  turns 
he  painted  portraits,  and  the  coquettes  from  the 
beau-monde  in  their  delicate  boudoirs  filled,  it 
seemed,  with  Rimmel's  perfumery.  Occasionally 
he  also  aided  in  painting  the  panoramas  which  were 
so  popular  in  the  eighties.  He  received  even  the 
commission  to  execute  a  gigantic  canvas  to  repre- 
sent "  The  Last  Day  of  the  Commune."  But  it 
dawned  upon  him  gradually  that  he  needed  his  own 
country  for  his  art,  and  in  1891  he  departed  for 
Holland,  where  he  settled  in  The  Hague.  After 
painting  some  official  portraits,  among  others  those 
of  the  Queen  and  of  the  Queen-Mother,  he  has 
devoted  himself  lately  more  exclusively  to  genre  in 


Ubc  fHf  Century?  H)utcb  painters     199 

landscape  setting,  finding  his  inspiration  princi- 
pally in  the  rustic  life  around  Nunspeet  in  Gelder- 
land. 

It  went  just  so  with  Willem  Steelink  (bom 
1856),  at  first  an  excellent  engraver  and  etcher  in 
Amsterdam,  and  who  also  painted  at  that  time  with 
much  grace  and  talent  charming,  dandylike  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  the  wig  period.  But  one  day, 
it  was  in  1896,  he  said  good-bye  to  all  these  nice 
people  and  went  forth  with  his  paint-box  to  the 
fields  and  the  woods  to  paint  the  meadows  and 
sheep.  Since  then  he  has  become  a  spoilt  child  of 
Nature,  who  has  told  him  all  her  secrets,  the  fresh- 
ness of  the  heath,  the  charm  of  the  hilly  landscape, 
the  brightness  of  sunny  atmosphere. 

Philip  Zilcken  (born  in  The  Hague,  1857)  was 
destined  for  a  professional  career,  but  soon  turned 
to  art,  which  he  has  successfully  pursued,  both  as 
painter  and  etcher.  Although  his  first  instruction 
was  received  from  Mauve,  he  is  virtually  self- 
taught.  Zilcken  has  also  contributed  to  art  litera- 
ture. 

H.  J.  Haverman  (bom  1857)  has  been  a  pupil 
of  Allebe  in  Amsterdam,  and  of  Verlat  in  Antwerp. 
He  devoted  himself  at  first  to  nude-painting,  of 
which  an  excellent  example  hangs  in  the  Municipal 
Museum  at  Amsterdam.  After  1890,  on  his  re- 
turn from  a  trip  through  Spain  and  Algeria,  he 


300  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  IRetberlant)  Galleries 

settled  in  The  Hague  and  became  an  accomplished 
portraitist,  varied  with  the  production  of  occa- 
sional genre,  which  is  typical  in  its  characterization 
of  the  figures. 

G.  H.  Breitner  (born  the  same  year)  owes  his 
initiation  into  his  profession  to  Rochussen  and 
Willem  Maris,  although  the  other  Hague  masters 
had  great  influence  over  him.  He  has  developed 
into  a  puissant  master,  steadily  progressing  since 
as  a  boy  of  sixteen  he  came  to  the  Hague  Academy 
with  the  best  composition  ever  submitted  by  an 
aspirant.  It  was  a  canvas  with  galloping  dragoons, 
that  was  wonderful  in  its  action  and  realism  — 
you  could  see  the  dust  fly.  Later  he  devoted  him- 
self to  the  tram-car  horse,  and  then  to  the  pictur- 
esque scenes  of  newly  laid-out  streets  with  the  in- 
evitable heavy  dray-horses  carting  the  building  ma- 
terials, or  to  dock  and  shipyard  views  with  their 
graphic  portrayal  of  laborious  activity.  His  pow- 
erful, passionate  colour  scheme,  and  his  nervous, 
virile  drawing  make  him  one  of  the  strongest  char- 
acters of  the  present  school  —  he  may  be  called 
the  Dutch  Brangwyn. 

A.  J.  der  Kinderen  (bom  1859)  shows  his  train- 
ing in  the  Brussels'  Academy  by  the  classicism  of 
his  figure  compositions. 

Paul  Rink  (1860-1903)  won  in  1887  at  the  Am- 
sterdam  Academy   the    "  Prix    de   Rome,"    which 


JAN 
STEEN 


ST.   NICHOLAS   CELEBRATION 

Plate   XXVI 
(.See  page   266) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Ube  firj*  Century  Dutcb  painters     201 

enabled  him  to  travel  some  years  in  Italy,  Spain 
and  Algeria.  At  first  he  was  impressed  with  the 
symbolic  tendency  of  his  time,  but  his  original, 
realistic  talent  took  the  upper  hand,  and  his  cul- 
tured, refined  nature  enabled  him  to  produce  many 
canvases  full  of  emotional  feeling.  Much  was  ex- 
pected of  him  when  in  his  forty-third  year  he  died 
suddenly. 

W.  B.  Tholen  (bom  i860),  a  pupil  of  Gabriel, 
has  produced  many  landscapes,  broadly  painted  and 
full  of  atmosphere. 

Willem  Witsen  (born  i860)  followed  the  Gym- 
nasium of  Amsterdam  for  a  few  years,  but  then 
turned  to  art.  After  establishing  an  enviable  rep- 
utation as  an  etcher,  he  took  up  painting  in  oil  and 
has  produced  several  canvases,  especially  winter 
views,  in  which  the  values  of  snow  are  admirably 
given. 

Jan  Toorop  was  born  the  same  year  in  Java. 
His  years  of  adolescence  were  spent  in  that  East 
Indian  paradise,  and  his  intercourse  with  Chinese, 
Arabian  and  Javanese  playmates,  and  the  impres- 
sions from  that  birthland  of  fantasmal  nature  are 
strongly  reflected  in  his  later  work.  He  stands 
unique  among  the  Dutch  artists  as  the  only  expo- 
nent of  the  stipple-method  of  some  of  the  French 
Impressionists.  His  work,  of  a  wide  range  of  sub- 
jects,   denotes   the    artist's    taste,    distinction,    and 


SANTA  BARBAIVA  STATE  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


202  trbc  Hrt  of  tbe  netberlanO  aalleries 

grace  of  expression.  His  decorative  talent  is  ex- 
emplified in  the  sinewy  lines  of  his  exquisite  draw- 
ing. He  obtains  an  individual  personality  in  what- 
ever has  left  his  easel  or  drawing-board. 

P.  Josselin  de  Jong  (born  1861)  was  sent  by 
his  father  at  an  early  age  to  the  drawing  school 
to  gratify  the  serious  bent  of  his  artistic  desire. 
When  his  study  years  were  completed  he  went  to 
Paris,  where  the  first  important  picture  he  exhibited 
in  the  Salon  of  1883,  "  An  Imploring  Letter,"  was 
purchased  for  the  Museum  of  Ghent.  It  is  strong 
in  character  and  vividly  recalls  to  mind  the  power- 
ful productions  of  the  famous  French  painter  Jean 
Paul  Laurens.  On  his  return  to  Holland  we  find 
many  prominent  people  in  his  studio  for  their  por- 
traits, which  he  produced  with  distinction  and  ex- 
pressiveness. Most  important  are  this  artist's  pres- 
entations of  factory  life,  in  oil  and  water  colour. 
His  mechanics  in  the  dark  workshop,  where  the 
heavy  hammer  thunders,  and  the  iron  flows  like 
brilliant  lava,  are  counterfeited  by  him  to  life.  His 
work  is  full  of  vigour  and  power. 

Willem  de  Zwart  (born  1862)  had  to  paint  a 
good  many  years  before  he  became  recognized. 
His  work  is  intensely  individual,  seeking  to  express 
the  mighty  contrasts  of  nature,  a  shining  sun  and 
dark  shadows;  or  a  delightful  combination  of 
deep  colours  in  magnificent  still  lives.     His  fund 


Ube  n^  Century  Butcb  {Painters     203 

of  subjects  is  inexhaustible,  for  he  adds  city  views 
in  Breitner's  style,  particularly  the  turmoil  of  rail- 
road stations  with  groups  of  cabs  and  horses  re- 
flected in  rain-washed  streets.  Also  landscapes  in 
a  fine,  distinguished  gray-blond  tone,  or  female 
figures  have  come  from  his  easel,  in  which  he  ob- 
tains ease  of  drawing  and  rich  colour  scheme,  full 
of  temperament. 

Jan  Veth  (bom  1864)  has  also  many  cords  on 
his  bow.  In  his  portrait  work  we  are  reminded, 
now  of  Memlinc's  subtle  handling,  then  again  of 
the  sharp  outlines  of  the  great  Holbein.  But  no 
matter  which  famous  predecessor  is  brought  to 
mind  by  his  art,  Veth  always  proves  himself  to  be 
a  master  of  form,  an  observer  of  the  intimate  char- 
acter of  his  sitter,  a  painter  who  is  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  technic  of  his  art.  One  has  a 
peculiar  feeling  of  admiration  for  his  carefully 
executed,  fine  and  smooth  portraits  that  are  like 
old  miniatures.  They  are  so  thin  and  delicately 
brushed,  porcelain-like,  reminding  of  the  Primi- 
tives. But  the  execution,  the  power  of  method,  the 
rare  knowledge  of  form  and  line,  the  soul  laid  in 
his  work  —  all  that  makes  the  art  of  Jan  Veth 
something  very  particular  and  individual. 

Isaac  Israels  (born  1865),  the  son  of  Joseph,  has 
been  successful  from  the  first.  His  name,  with  its 
renown  in  artistic  circles,  may  have  been  a  help 


204  tlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  "Wetberlan^  Galleries 

to  him,  it  also  imposed  severe  demands.  When 
he  exhibited  his  first  important  canvas,  "  Depar- 
ture of  Soldiers  for  the  Colonies,"  a  composition 
painted  con  aniore,  it  met  with  instant  approbation. 
The  work  was  apparently  done  at  white  heat,  full 
of  keen  observation  and  most  happily  expressed. 
Then  came  the  portrait  of  a  young  woman,  full 
of  distinction,  and  revealing-  unusual  tenderness. 
For  some  time  he  devoted  himself  to  scenes  of 
soldier  life,  from  the  barracks,  the  canteen,  or  the 
parade  ground.  Then  silence.  Years  went  by 
without  a  sign  of  life,  when  suddenly  Isaac  Israels 
showed  a  number  of  plein  air  studies,  and  thence- 
forth he  has  been  known  as  one  of  the  few  ultra- 
impressionistic  painters  in  Holland  —  for  the  whole 
Dutch  school  is  at  the  root  impressionistic. 

A.  M.  Gorter  (born  1866)  is  one  of  the  most 
promising  of  the  younger  landscapists.  His  colour 
is  succulent,  and  his  composition  artlessly  artistic, 
full  of  atmosphere. 

Mari  A.  Bauer  (born  1867)  is  the  Oriental  of 
the  Dutch  school.  With  masterful  drawing  he  is 
able  to  reproduce  the  impressions  obtained  in  jour- 
neys to  Constantinople  and  the  East  (as  far  as 
Hindustan).  His  magnificent  drawings  are  start- 
ling visions  of  the  land  of  the  Arabian  Nights. 
Then  again  he  turns  us  to  view  the  Oriental  streets 
with  their  wealth  of  colour  and  picturesque  anima- 


Ube  f Iff  Century  Dutcb  ipatnters     205 

tion.     His  work,  so  personal  and  individual,  makes 
his  fame  grow  constantly. 

Although  I  might  rest  here  with  the  review  of 
the  Dutch  artists  of  the  19th  century,  represented 
in  the  Netherland  Galleries,  I  feel  compelled  to 
take  time  by  the  forelock,  and  add  yet  a  few  names 
of  men  whose  work  is  bound  to  appear,  and  that 
quite  speedily,  in  these  public  collections. 

The  reason  that  Evert  Pieters  (born  1856)  is 
not  represented  there  must  be  ascribed  to  the  dif- 
ficulty of  obtaining  examples  from  his  brush.  His 
work  is  taken  by  the  public  and  by  dealers  with 
great  avidity,  often  before  it  has  left  the  easel.  He 
changes  his  subjects  from  landscape  to  marine,  or 
to  genre,  with  equal  strength  of  expression.  His 
"Harbour  of  Vollendam"  smiles  at  us  full  of 
sunny  tints ;  nature  serene  is  in  his  "  Twilight  in 
the  Hague  Woods ;  "  and  his  "  Beach,"  with  cart 
and  horse  and  shell-fisher,  bespeaks  the  master 
hand. 

Another  painter  of  great  popularity  is  F.  Arnt- 
zenius  (born  1864).  The  shining,  wet  streets  dur- 
ing or  after  a  shower  are  his  favourite.  Cleverly 
he  hits  off  the  sturdy  butcher's  boy,  carrying  his 
basket;  daintily  do  his  damsels  trip  along  with 
anxiously  tipped  up  skirts  —  every  figure  is  just 
so,   everything  glimmers,   and   drips,   and   steams. 


2o6  Ube  Hrt  of  tbc  Tletberlan&  Gallertcs 

The  public  likes  his  work  and  buys  it  as  soon  as 
it  leaves  his  studio. 

Martinus  Schilt  (bom  1867)  also  finds  his  mod- 
els from  the  types  of  common  life.  His  conception 
is  healthy  and  vigorous,  and  wondrously  exact. 

Different  is  the  work  of  another  young  man,  B. 
Schregel  (born  1870),  a  pupil  of  the  Hague  Acad- 
emy. His  "  Mill  at  Stompwyk  "  might  just  as  well 
have  been  painted  by  Roelof s  —  it  is  so  fresh,  so 
tintling  with  light  is  the  heavy-clouded  sky.  His 
**  Potato  Peeler,"  in  a  Rembrandtesque  cellar, 
brings  the  name  of  Maes  or  of  Pieter  de  Hooch  on 
the  lips,  being  painted  with  such  a  depth  of  tone 
and  colour.  Later  he  has  delighted  most  in  paint- 
ing golden  sunlight  as  it  reflects  on  the  white  wall 
of  a  bam  or  farmhouse  in  blinding  brilliancy. 

Andre  Broedelet  (bom  1872)  paints  interiors 
and  figures  with  rich,  deep  colour.  His  work  is 
represented  in  famous  collections  in  London. 

Simon  Maris,  of  the  same  age,  is  the  son  of 
Willem  Maris,  and  a  figure  painter  of  remarkable 
promise.  I  saw  a  short  time  ago  a  canvas  by  this 
artist,  showing  a  young  mother  with  her  child  cud- 
dling in  her  arms,  that  reminds  one  a  little  of  the 
rare  work  of  his  uncle  Thys,  but  is  still  a  great 
deal  different. 

Another  one  of  the  younger  men  is  Willy  Sluiter 
(bom   1873),  who  started  as  a  caricaturist  with 


TTbe  f  llf  Century  H)utcb  painters     207 

great  eclat.  Of  late  years  he  has  been  depicting 
the  fisherfolk  of  Katwyk,  and  its  beach  and  boats 
and  horses.  From  the  first,  while  we  might  have 
regretted  the  loss  of  his  ready  crayon  that  ana- 
lyzed so  typically  the  human  comedy,  he  has  amply 
repaid  this  loss  as  a  powerful  painter  of  shore- 
scapes.  His  large  canvas  in  the  1900  Paris  Ex- 
position, of  two  horses  dragging  the  cable-tow 
from  the  water,  was  one  of  the  strongest  paintings 
of  the  Dutch  Section. 

J.  H.  van  Mastenbroek  (born  1875),  ^^  Rotter- 
dam, paints  pithy,  snappy  river  views.  He  is  very 
attractive  as  he  portrays  the  crush  and  turmoil  and 
turbulence  of  the  harbour  of  his  native  city.  His 
quick,  pliant  brush  paints  away  for  dear  life,  so 
that  we  sometimes  gasp  and  would  like  greater 
calm  —  but  we  turn,  nevertheless,  always  with 
pleasure  to  these  quay  scenes  with  ships  and  steve- 
dores, with  heavy  clouds  hanging  overhead. 

J.  H.  Jurres  (born  1876),  one  of  the  youngest 
men,  is  developing  into  one  of  the  strongest.  His 
thick  impasto  lends  itself  admirably  to  the  opulent 
wealth  of  his  colour  gamut.  His  figure  groups, 
if  tuned  by  age,  would  readily  be  taken  for  the 
work  of  a  17th  century  giant. 

To  mention  these  younger  men,  so  full  of  prom- 
ise, is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  modem  Dutch 
school  is  remarkable  for  its  longevity.     Not  since 


2o8  Zbc  Htt  ot  tbe  'iletberlan&  (Ballertes 

the  Italian  Renaissance,  or  the  Dutch  school  of  the 
17th  century,  have  we  seen  an  art  current  running- 
onward  unabated  for  as  many  years.  From  the 
time  that  Bosboom  and  Israels  commenced  painting 
in  the  forties  to  the  present  day  there  has  been  a 
succession  of  men  whose  originality  and  contem- 
porary expression  seems  to  breathe  the  Frenchman's 
dictum,  "  le  moderne,  il  n'y  que  qs.."  They  are 
racy  of  the  soil,  indigenous^  and  distinctly  imbued 
with  the  Zeitgeist,  there  is  nothing  of  decadence 
about  them.  They  are  strong,  virile,  clear-eyed, 
frank  and  wholesome  —  well-nigh  perfect  in  tech- 
nical mastery. 

They  may  have  been  inspired  by  their  forebears, 
or  even  by  their  immediate  predecessors  of  the 
thirties,  the  Barbizon  men.  But  they  did  not  follow 
this  latter  art  movement  blindly.  They  developed 
it  along  their  own  way.  And  this  individuality  has 
been  the  source  of  their  strength,  where  bald  imi- 
tation would  have  spelt  destruction.  They  never 
attempted  that  scumbling,  glazing,  and  reworking 
which  was  the  bane  of  many  American  painters  of 
a  score  of  years  ago,  even  yet  followed  by  some, 
to  produce  the  effects  acquired  by  the  men  that 
worked  at  Fontainebleau.  Theirs  is  simple,  indi- 
vidual work,  done  in  sincerity  and  serious  en- 
deavour. 

And  yet  —  the  Dutch   School  will  not  last  for 


JAN 
:>TEEN 


THE    DOCTOR'S    VISIT 

Plate  XXVII 
(See   page   36q) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Ube  fUJ  Century  ©utcb  patntcrs     209 

ever.  What  will  follow?  and  carry  on  the  art 
flame  in  historic  succession?  The  answer  comes 
ready  to  pen.  Many  American  landscape  painters 
are  giving  signs  of  these  very  qualities  that  have 
made  the  Dutch  School  great  —  simple,  individual 
work;  sincerity  and  serious  endeavour,  breathing 
the  flavour  of  their  own  soil  with  its  myriad  mani- 
festations of  peculiar  and  characteristic  beauty. 
Those  who  have  abandoned  the  ill-advised  efforts 
to  manufacture  tonality  by  heavy  varnishes,  glazes 
and  raw  umber,  and  express  themselves  in  the  pure 
colours  of  our  clear  atmosphere  are  rapidly  forging 
ahead.  Whether  they  show  us  the  Connecticut 
hillside  or  pine  dunes,  the  sun-shimmering  Western 
plains,  or  the  gorgeous  Colorado  canon  —  the  mar- 
vellous variety  and  the  riches  of  these  fields  of 
inspiration  are  being  depicted  by  our  men  with 
ever-increasing  strength  and  sympathy.  Many  of 
our  figure  painters  may  still  be  all  at  sea  —  some 
may  be  classical  and  Greek,  others  give  the  tap- 
estry effect  of  the  portrait  backgrounds  of  the 
British  school  of  the  past;  nevertheless,  we  find 
several  of  the  younger  men  looking  for  their  types 
among  our  own  population,  as  the  old  Dutchmen 
did  in  their  surroundings.  And  in  their  emulating 
the  Dutch  spirit  —  nothing  else  —  we  see  the  time 
approaching  that  the  American  School  will  ulti- 
mately outstrip  its  pattern.     This  be  a  forecast  of 


2IO  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbc  'Wetberlanb  Galleries 

the  future.  There  is  no  hope,  no  reliance  to  be 
placed  upon  the  men  who  in  constant  foreign  sur- 
roundings seek  to  perpetuate  the  fad  for  foreign 
productions  among  the  American  public,  but  the 
men  we  have  here  are  becoming  stronger  every  day, 
so  that  we  may  look  forward  to  the  time  when  the 
American  School  shall  take  its  place  as  the  lead- 
ing school  of  the  twentieth  century. 


CHAPTER   IX 

OTHER  SCHOOLS  IN  THE  NETHERLAND  GALLERIES 

While  the  art  of  the  Netherland  Galleries  is 
principally  devoted  to  its  own  masters,  there  is  also 
a  representation  of  other  schools.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Flemish  and  Barbizon  this  representa- 
tion is,  however,  very  meagre.  Italian  art  was 
manifestly  little  thought  of,  for  less  than  ten  artists 
of  the  various  Italian  schools  are  to  be  found  in 
the  public  collections  of  Holland.  Even  the  Flem- 
ish school  is  far  from  complete.  The  works  of 
some  two  scores  of  artists  might  be  gathered,  to 
which  all  the  Museums  would  have  to  contribute. 
Van  Dyck  is  fairly  well  shown,  but  Rubens  was 
cavalierly  treated,  and  no  estimate  of  the  great 
Fleming  could  be  made  as  he  is  shown  here.  The 
reason  for  this  is  psychological. 

One  can  never  lose  sight  of  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  Dutch  and  the  Flemish  schools.  With 
the  exception  of  the  earliest  Dutchmen,  as  Geertgen 
van  Saint  Tans,  Dirk  Bouts,  Engelbrechtsz.,  and 
Lukas  van  Leiden,  who  learned  the  art  from  their 

SII 


212  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  laetbeclanO  Galleries 

Southern  neig-hbours,  there  is  a  clear  line  of  de- 
markation.  The  distinction  between  Holland  and 
Belgium,  to  which  Flanders  belongs,  is  racial.  The 
North  Netherlands  were  populated  in  the  Migration 
of  Nations  by  the  Norsemen  who  settled  Friesland^ 
and  the  Teutons  and  Saxons  who  settled  the  Rhine 
and  Maas  basins  —  the  same  tribes  that  filled  Brit- 
ain. The  South  Netherlands  received  the  influx 
of  the  Franks,  a  Latin  race.  And  as  differences 
may  become  more  pronounced  and  positive  where 
they  touch,  so  we  find  the  distinction  between  Hol- 
land and  Belgium  asserting  itself  from  before  the 
Middle  Ages  to  the  present  time  in  every  branch 
of  the  humanities,  in  religion,  in  politics,  in  social 
life,  and  in  art.  The  North  became  Protestant,  the 
South  remained  Catholic;  the  North  fought  for 
freedom  in  the  eighty  years  war,  the  South  re- 
mained willingly  subject  to  Spain ;  the  North  found 
its  wealth  in  commerce,  the  South  in  manufactures; 
and  Art  in  Holland  was  great  through  its  national 
feeling,  the  Art  of  the  South  always  bore  the  marks 
of  its  Latin  affinities.  This  has  always  produced  a 
subconscious  antagonism,  manifested  in  various 
ways  —  in  the  case  before  us  by  a  lack  of  sympathy 
and  appreciation  of  the  best  that  the  Flemish  could 
oflFer. 

Of  some  of  the  early  Flemish,  as  Memlinc,  Mas- 
sys,  and  Mabuse,  a  few  examples  are  shown;    Pa- 


®tber  Scbools  213 

tinier,  Pourbus,  and  the  Breughels  have  each  single 
canvases,  as  is  the  case  with  Snyders  and  Fyt,  the 
painters  of  game  and  fowls,  Teniers  and  Brouwer, 
by  reason  of  their  affinity  in  subjects,  are  more  fre- 
quently met  with.  Of  the  later  Flemish  painters 
Verboeckhoven,  Wappers,  and  Willems  are  the 
most  important  artists  represented. 

Only  a  few  Frenchmen,  besides  the  Fontaine- 
bleau  group,  have  been  admitted.  Prud'hon,  Cou- 
ture, Michel,  Monticelli,  Delacroix  and  Gericault, 
Courbet  and  Decamps  are  naturally  shown,  because 
they  had  great  influence  on  the  Dutch  painters  of 
the  early  19th  century.  The  increasing  facilities  of 
travel  and  intercommunication  between  nations  ex- 
tended to  a  wider  acquaintance  with  and  appre- 
ciation of  foreign  products.  Hence  the  private  col- 
lections which  form  the  foundation  of  most  Muse- 
ums contain  several  works  of  the  later  Frenchmen, 
so  that  examples  of  Gerome,  Meissonier,  Bougue- 
reau,  Vollon,  Breton,  Ziem  and  others  are  found 
here  and  there. 

The  pride  of  the  Netherland  Galleries,  besides  in 
the  products  of  its  own  men,  may,  however,  also 
be  found  in  its  ample  presentation  of  the  Barbizon 
men  —  those  artistic  Titans  who  redeemed  French 
Art  from  the  lifelessness  of  Classicism  and  made 
it  human  and  supreme.  They  were  rebuffed  when 
they  appeared,  and  suffered  the  hardships  of  inno 


ai4   "Cbe  Hrt  of  tbe  iactberlan&  Galleries 

vators,  but  the  weight  of  their  genius  crushed  at 
last  all  opposition.  Especially  do  we  find  in  the 
Museum  Mesdag  a  presentment  of  the  entire  group 
such  as  is  nowhere  else  to  be  met  with. 

Corot  shows  his  sensuous  charm.  Millet  has  his 
sentimental  appeal  that  is  overshadowed  by  the 
incisive  distinction  which  his  work  possesses  in  its 
superb  colour,  its  artistic,  pictorial  presentation,  its 
atmospheric  richness.  Rousseau  proclaims  the  re- 
demption of  French  landscape  art.  He  was  domi- 
nated by  his  love  for  nature,  and  with  Michael 
Angelesque  strength  he  portrayed  her.  The  ma- 
jestic mass  of  the  forest,  the  bulk  and  volume  of 
the  oaks,  the  great  ledges  of  moss-covered  rocks, 
the  sweeping  lines  of  hills,  storm  light  and  voyag- 
ing clouds  —  these  are  his  themes  above  which  he 
soars  like  an  eagle,  as  Corot  called  him.  The 
splendour  of  his  colour,  even  in  his  highest  chro- 
matic flights,  is  always  dominated  by  the  quintes- 
sence of  beauty  and  grandeur,  which  nature  reveals. 

Dupre's  melancholy  strain,  infiltrating  the  sombre 
moods  of  his  nature,  and  the  more  sparkling  colour 
gems  of  Diaz  are  to  be  studied  beside  the  exquisite 
frankness  and  potent  charm,  always  restful,  peace- 
ful, refreshing,  which  Daubigny  displays,  and  the 
"  Bucolics  of  Virgil  "  from  the  brush  of  Troyon. 
The  secret  of  the  emirtence  of  the  "  school  of  1830," 
as  the  French  call  them,  is  the  same,  as  we  shall 


Otbcv  Scb00l6  ai5 

see,  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  greatness 
of  the  17th  century  Dutch  school  —  they  mirrored 
the  Hfe  of  their  own  people,  their  art  had  its  root 
in  their  own  soil,  and  in  contemporary  French 
thought  and  sentiment;  they  pictured  their  own 
time,  clime  and  race. 

Of  the  Italian  School  a  few  unique  examples  are 
scattered,  of  which  the  Mauritshuis  possesses  the 
majority,  but  in  Utrecht  is  a  rare  Ugolino  da  Siena, 
the  early  adherent  of  Cimabue,  who  resisted  to  the 
last  the  newer  tendencies  of  Giotto.  The  portraits 
by  Piero  di  Cosimo  denote  his  advanced  art  over 
that  of  his  contemporaries.  Mazzolino,  Bordone 
and  Magnasco  complete  the  list.  Mr.  Mesdag  is 
responsible  for  the  importation  of  two  of  the  most 
noted  modem  Italians,  Segantini  and  that  eccentric 
genius  Mancini. 

The  Spaniards  Velasquez,  Murillo  and  Cereso 
have  each  one  canvas  in  different  Museums.  The 
Murillos  in  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague  are,  how- 
ever, decidedly  important. 

Holbein's  journey  through  Holland  is  not  re- 
sponsible for  the  few  portraits  by  this  first  German 
master,  for  those  in  the  Mauritshuis  came  by  way 
of  England.  Tischbein,  on  the  contrary,  painted 
the  likenesses  shown  while  on  a  visit  to  The  Hague. 
Only  Meyer  von  Bremen  and  Munkacsy  represent 
the  modems,  while  Gabriel  Max  left  a  few  examples 


2i6  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  IRetberlanC)  Galleries 

when  in  the  seventies  he  was  painting  the  lions  of 
the  Amsterdam  "  Zoo "  for  his  famous  **  Lion's 
Bride." 

The  Enghsh  School  is  entirely  absent,  except 
a  stray  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  and  a  few  portraits 
which  Hodges  painted  while  settled  in  Amsterdam. 
It  is  strange  that  while  the  English  were  the  most 
sincere  appreciators  of  the  Dutch  artists,  import- 
ing their  works,  as  well  as  the  men  themselves, 
not  a  single  painting  of  the  great  British  school 
of  Reynolds,  Gainsborough  and  Constable  found 
its  way  to  Dutch  collections.  Alma  Tadema,  a 
relative  of  H.  W.  Mesdag,  is  naturally  represented 
in  his  Museum,  while  the  Ryks  Museum  may  well 
boast  of  a  fine,  early  Whistler,  "  Effie  Deans." 

In  our  walks  through  the  Museums  the  examples 
of  the  foreign  schools  will  be  noted  as  they  are  met 
with. 


WILLEM   VAN 
DE   VELDE, 
THE  YOUNGER 


THE  CANNON  SHOT 

Plate   XXVIII 
{See   page    273) 


Ryks  Museum 
Amsterdam 


THE  RYK«  MUSE^UM 

SECOND    FLOOB^. 


!__. .-T 


317 


CHAPTER    X 

WALKS     THROUGH      THE      GALLERIES THE     RYKS 

MUSEUM 

The  Art  of  the  Ryks  Museum  at  Amsterdam 
gives  an  almost  complete  review  of  Dutch  art  up 
to  the  latter  half  of  the  19th  century  more  or  less 
systematically  arranged. 

We  enter  the  building  on  the  right  of  the  Passage 
Way  and  passing  for  the  present  the  glass  doors 
that  give  entrance  to  the  first  or  ground  floor,  de- 
voted to  Industrial  Arts,  etc.,  we  ascend  the  stair- 
way which  brings  us  to  the  large  entrance  Vestibule, 
extending  along  the  entire  middle  front  of  the 
building.  The  decoration  of  this  beautiful  foyer 
is  harmonious.  Fine  art-windows,  painted  by  W.  J. 
Dixon,  shed  a  subdued  light.  They  represent  alle- 
gorically  Architecture,  Painting  and  Sculpture. 
The  floor  is  an  immense  mosaic,  filled  with  sym- 
bolic figures,  while  numerous  busts,  sculptured  fig- 
ures, and  early  i6th  century  tapestries  make  the 
furnishing. 

Passing  behind  a  screen,  we  enter  the  Gallery 

2l8 


TRIlalhs  Ubrouab  tbe  Galleries       219 

of  Honour;  so  called  because  formerly  it  was  the 
avenue  to  the  Rembrandt  Room  at  the  farther  end, 
with  that  incomparable  vista  of  the  "  Night  Watch  " 
to  which  I  have  referred.  Now  we  see  beyond  a 
painting  which  is  not  strong  enough  to  carry  such 
a  long  distance.  On  each  side  of  this  long  corridor 
are  four  alcoves  containing  canvases  of  the  17th 
century.  These  paintings  were  apparently  placed 
here  on  account  of  the  sizes  not  conforming  to  the 
wall  space  in  the  larger  galleries,  for  with  some 
masterpieces  there  are  also  a  large  number  of  paint- 
ings of  less  importance. 

In  the  first  alcove  on  the  left  (A,  see  ground 
plan)  we  find  on  the  North  wall  Adriaen  Beelde- 
maker's  masterpiece,  "  Hunters  and  Dogs."  A 
hunter  in  a  red  coat  is  going  to  the  left  with  a 
musket  on  his  shoulder,  from  which  a  hare  is  sus- 
pended. He  has  two  spaniels  and  three  greyhounds 
in  leash;  to  the  left  a  dog  is  on  the  scent;  in  the 
background  are  hunters  and  a  horseman.  A  cloudy 
sky  hangs  over  the  landscape.  The  picture  is  of 
excellent  colour  and  reminds  one  of  Cuyp's  work. 
Of  Comelis  Dusart  we  find  a  "  Boy  by  Candle- 
light," not  to  be  compared  with  his  lively  genre  that 
we  will  see  later  on.  A  **  View  of  Tivoli,  near 
Rome  "  is  the  only  example  in  the  museum  of  the 
younger  de  Moucheron,  Izaak,  which  indicates 
plainly  how  landscape  art  had  declined  in  the  Neth- 


220  U\)c  art  ot  tbe  "Wetberlant)  Galleries 

eriands  at  the  end  of  the  century  through  Italian 
imitation. 

On  the  East  wall  hangs  a  biblical  scene,  "  Joseph 
explaining  his  Dreams,"  by  the  many-sided  Jan 
Victors,  whose  portraits  and  genre  are  widely  dis- 
tributed. This  example  is  weaker  than  his  other 
two  canvases,  found  later.  Of  Hendrik  Heerschop, 
Rembrandt's  pupil,  we  have  a  mythological  scene, 
"  Discovery  of  Erechtonius  by  the  Daughters  of 
Cecrops."  A  large  corporation  piece,  "  The  Mag- 
istracy and  Militia  of  Dordrecht,"  used  to  be  as- 
cribed to  S.  van  Hoogstraten,  which  has  proved 
to  be  incorrect.  It  is  the  worthy  product  of  one 
of  the  17th  century  unknowns. 

On  the  South  wall  is  a  characteristic  Jan  Steen, 
"  The  Devil's  Safeguard,"  and  the  large  Paul  Pot- 
ter, "  The  Bear  Hunt."  The  latter  painting  was 
acquired  in  an  exchange  with  the  Mauritshuis  in 
1825.  Being  in  a  much  damaged  condition,  it  was 
restored  by  J.  W.  Pieneman.  Although  the  res- 
toration has  taken  away  much  of  Potter's  charac- 
teristic painting,  it  is  still  apparent  that  the  subject 
with  its  energitic  action  was  too  much  for  the  art- 
ist, who  was  more  at  home  in  the  quietude  of  coun- 
try life.  The  painting  is  hard  and  dry,  which 
might  be  the  restorer's  fault,  but  at  the  same  time 
the  action  is  unnatural  and  the  movement  forced, 
for  which  Potter  must  be  held  responsible.    At  first 


TKlalhs  XTbrougb  tbe  aalleries       221 

view,  however,  the  composition  is  striking.  A  large 
bear  is  on  the  defensive  against  attacking  dogs. 
A  horseman,  sword  in  hand,  on  his  rearing  charger, 
is  ready  for  the  coup-de-grace,  while  a  huntsman 
approaches  from  behind  a  tree  with  levelled  lance. 
Potter  was  never  successful  with  any  other  animals 
but  cattle.  His  horses  especially  are  out  of  draw- 
ing. 

In  the  second  alcove  (B)  we  find  on  the  North 
wall  a  Jan  van  Goyen,  "  View  of  Valkenhof  near 
Nymegen,"  dated  1645,  out  of  his  best  period;  and 
a  "  Waterfall "  by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael,  of  a  grand, 
poetic  character,  denoting  by  its  unusually  solid 
painting  the  influence  of  van  Everdingen.  A  view 
on  the  Zeeland  waterways  by  Simon  de  Vlieger  is 
the  best  example  from  this  marine  painter.  On  the 
East  wall  we  are  attracted  by  an  excellent  portrait 
by  Karel  du  Jardin,  of  Gerard  Reinst,  a  celebrated 
art-connoisseur.  Of  Jan  Asselyn  there  is  that  fa- 
mous painting  of  a  Swan  defending  its  nest  against 
a  dog.  At  the  time  this  canvas  was  painted  politics 
was  rife  in  the  Lowlands.  The  strife  between  the 
parties  found  vent  in  lampoons  and  woodcuts,  from 
which  later  came  the  so-called  "  Chap-books."  We 
must  consider  this  canvas  the  most  ambitious  po- 
litical cartoon  ever  put  out,  the  artist  making  his 
meaning  plain  by  inscribing  under  the  magnificent 
white  swan  the  word  "  The  Pensionary,"  referring 


222  Ubc  art  ot  tbe  'Ketbcrlan^  Galleries 

to  Pensionary  Johan  de  Wit ;  under  the  eggs,  "  Hol- 
land," a  play  on  the  different  provinces  of  the 
United  Netherlands ;  and  near  the  dog,  "  The 
Enemy  of  the  State."  There  was  great  opposition 
at  the  time  to  Johan  de  Wit,  a  remarkable  states- 
man, whose  position  may  be  compared  with  that  of 
the  President  of  a  Republic,  but  who  was  accused 
of  having  the  ambition  to  assume  the  role  of  Dic- 
tator. Although  he  and  his  brother  Cornelis  had 
contributed  most  to  the  exaltation  of  the  Dutch 
Republic,  their  known  unwillingness  to  have  the 
Princes  of  Orange  continue  as  Stadhouders  resulted 
in  their  cruel  death  at  the  hands  of  a  furious  mob 
of  Orangemen.  The  painting  before  us  was  a 
defence  of  the  Grand-Pensionary,  by  suggesting 
his  labours  for  the  Commonwealth.  As  a  pendant 
hangs  a  "  Clucking  Hen  protecting  its  Chickens," 
by  Melchior  d'Hondecoeter,  of  equal  soundness  in 
painting. 

An  early  militia  piece  comes  next.  It  is  by  Claes 
Pietersz.  Lastman,  who  died  in  1625,  an  elder 
brother  of  Rembrandt's  teacher.  It  shows  Captain 
Abraham  Boom,  his  lieutenant  Ant.  Oetges  and 
seven  civil  guards,  ready  to  depart  from  Amsterdam 
to  help  defend  the  city  of  Zvvolle  against  the  attack 
of  the  Spaniards.  The  painting  was  unfinished,  and 
completed  after  the  artist's  death  by  A.  van  Nieuw- 
land,  and  is  only  of  interest  to  show  the  beginning 


•(Kflalfts  UbrouQb  tbe  (Ballertes        223 

of  these  group  paintings.  The  arrangement  of  the 
figures  is  stiff  in  their  straight  and  rigid  line,  while 
the  colour  is  harsh  and  flat.  Of  Thomas  de  Keyzer 
we  view  an  uninteresting  portrait  group  of  three 
children  that  cannot  be  compared  with  his  later  indi- 
vidual work.  A  characteristic  Berchem  shows 
"  Ruth  and  Boaz."  With  the  two  principal  figures 
in  the  foreground  are  seen  several  reapers  and  ani- 
mals in  the  middle  distance,  and  the  mountainous 
landscape  setting  we  always  find  in  his  work.  A 
recently  acquired  Wybrand  de  Geest,  "  Portrait  of 
a  Patrician  Lady,"  is  a  rare  example  of  this  little- 
known  artist. 

We  enter  the  third  alcove  (C).  One  of  the  most 
important  paintings  by  Nicolaas  Maes  hangs  here, 
"The  Endless  Prayer"  (Plate  XXII).  An  old 
woman,  in  a  black  dress  with  red  sleeves,  is  seated 
at  a  table,  with  piously  folded  hands.  The  honest 
expression  on  this  wrinkled  face,  but  especially  the 
fine  painting  of  the  hands  attract  attention.  The 
character  of  these  hands,  so  old  and  nerveless  that 
one  can  see  the  palsy  shaking  them,  has  a  wonder- 
ful and  most  pathetic  expression  of  attenuated  fee- 
bleness, still  supporting  one  the  other  in  the  clasp 
of  hopeful  faith.  It  is  one  of  the  finest  products 
of  this  artist,  painted  while  still  under  Rembrandt's 
influence,  and  before  he  became  Frenchified.  A 
"  Regent  piece,"   by  Jacob   Backer,   shows   Rem- 


224  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  1Retberlan&  Galleries 

brandt's  influence.  Another  one  of  the  numerous 
animal  paintings  by  d'Hondecoeter,  of  which  the 
Museum  possesses  a  round  dozen,  is  entitled  "  The 
Menagerie."  Only  one  example  is  owned  of  Leen- 
dert  Bramer's  work,  "  King  Solomon  offering  to 
the  Idols,"  which  is  painted  in  the  Italian  style, 
with  a  Rembrandtesque  modification  of  its  chiaros- 
curo. The  portrait  of  Cornelis  Pietersz.  Hooft, 
Burgomaster  of  Amsterdam,  and  father  of  one  of 
the  most  famous  poets  and  prose  writers  of  Hol- 
land, is  painted  by  Cornelis  van  der  Voort,  of  whom 
nothing  is  known  except  that  his  work  has  some- 
times been  ascribed  to  Moreelse  —  accordingly  this 
can  hardly  be  one  of  his  best  works.  A  later  man, 
of  whom  little  is  known  except  that  he  was  influ- 
enced by  Rembrandt,  was  Dirk  Dirksz.  Santvoort, 
of  whom  we  have  here  a  Regent  piece  of  the  Cloth- 
Guild. 

"  The  Choice  of  a  Lover,"  by  Nicolaes  Moeyaert 
(Plate  XII),  bears  a  false  signature  of  G.  Metsu, 
to  whom  it  was  ascribed  at  one  time,  for  what  other 
reason  besides  the  signature  is  hardly  discernible. 
The  painting  shows  considerable  skill,  but  lacks  the 
elaborate  background  that  we  look  for  in  Metsu's 
work.  A  vigorous  old  man,  with  fur-bordered  cap 
and  cloak,  is  seated  on  the  right  at  a  table  on  which 
are  gold  pieces,  while  he  offers  a  bag  with  money 
to  the  girl,  who  pushes  it  away  as  she  leans  against 


,   o 

'^  00 


Malfts  ZTbrouQb  tbe  (Ballertes       225 

her  smiling  choice,  of  her  own  station  in  life.  An- 
other young  man,  of  well-to-do  appearance,  holds 
up  a  wine  glass  to  which  he  points  invitingly  as 
he  beckons  to  the  maiden  who  ignores  him.  It  is 
a  plain  "  morality  "  —  that  true  love  chooses  pov- 
erty, if  need  be,  in  preference  to  riches  and  pleas- 
ures. Another  example  by  this  artist,  "  The  un- 
worthy Guest,"  runs  in  similar  vein.  Jan  Lievens 
was  another  pupil  of  Rembrandt,  and  here  with  a 
biblical  presentation  of  "  Samson  and  Delilah."  A 
good  portrait  of  Reinier  Hinlopen  is  by  Nicolas 
Elias.  Two  of  the  examples  of  the  famous  painter 
of  dead  poultry,  Jan  Weenix,  the  younger  one  of 
this  name,  hang  in  this  alcove. 

If  we  should  have  in  mind  the  symbolic  painting 
of  the  present  time,  which  represents  arts,  sciences, 
the  seasons,  etc.,  by  half-draped  female  figures,  we 
are  at  once  recalled  to  the  matter-of-fact  realism 
of  the  Dutchmen  by  a  painting  of  Hendrik  Bloem- 
aert,  who  symbolizes  "  Winter  "  by  an  old  man  in 
a  green  tunic  and  violet  mantle.  He  sits  at  a  table 
rubbing  his  hands  over  a  chafing-dish,  near  which 
stand  a  glass  and  a  platter  with  butter-cakes  — 
which  presentation  adds  comfort  even  to  the 
thought  of  the  inclement  season,  whereas  modem 
symbolism  generally  would  make  us  shiver  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  poor  model. 

A  portrait  of  the  architect  van  der  Helm  with 


226  Zbc  art  ot  tbe  fletberlanb  (Ballertes 

his  wife  and  child,  by  Barent  Fabricius,  is  worthy 
of  his  master  Rembrandt;  while  his  fellow-pupil, 
Ferdinand  Bol,  shows  by  one  of  his  biblical  can- 
vases, "  The  Dance  of  Salome,"  that  he  did  not 
possess  the  imagination  required  for  such  subjects 
—  his  portraits  are  far  better. 

In  the  fourth  alcove  (D)  we  note  one  of  the 
finest  marine  paintings,  by  Willem  van  de  Velde, 
the  Younger,  "  View  of  the  Y  before  Amsterdam." 
It  is  a  scene  of  much  animation,  showing  the  activ- 
ity of  dockyards  of  that  great  commercial  centre. 
An  "  East-India-man,"  with  richly  gilt  stern,  is  re- 
turning from  its  first  voyage  to  the  East,  being  re- 
ceived with  saluting  salvoes  by  another  vessel.  The 
colour  is  unusually  brilliant  and  the  conception  large 
and  impressive.  The  artist  painted  a  replica  of  this 
canvas  while  in  England,  which  hangs  now  in  the 
Wallace  Collection.  Another  example  by  Jan 
Weenix  is  called  "  The  Country-house,"  after  the 
mansion  filling  the  left  comer  of  the  canvas.  The 
principal  feature  is,  however,  the  dead  game  and 
the  fruit  scattered  around  a  vase. 

Melchior  d'Hondecoeter's  masterpiece,  "  The 
Floating  Feather,"  hangs  near.  Not  only  is  the 
artist  unsurpassed  in  his  portrayal  —  the  true  word, 
for  these  are  portraits  —  of  the  various  birds  he 
depicts,  in  this  canvas  he  has  brought  his  tour-de- 
force of  a  floating  feather,  which  frequently  occurs 


Malfts  XTbrouab  tbc  (Ballerics       227 

in  his  paintings,  to  the  acme  of  illusory  deception. 
A  fine  corporation  piece,  "  The  Regents  of  the 
Workhouse,"  by  Karel  du  Jardin,  and  another  one 
with  the  same  title  by  Jan  de  Baen,  obtain  distinc- 
tion for  excellent  workmanship. 

Since  we  will  return  to  this  Gallery  of  Honour 
at  the  completion  of  the  tour  of  this  floor  of  the 
Museum,  we  will  leave  for  the  present  the  alcoves 
on  the  right  and  enter  the  large  gallery  that  used  to 
be  called  the  Rembrandt  Zaal  (R.  243).  It  is  dec- 
orated in  the  frieze  with  incidents  from  the  life  of 
the  great  master,  but  the  "  Night  Watch,"  which 
was  formerly  its  principal  adornment,  is  missed. 
Instead  we  find  here  the  most  popular  of  Bartolo- 
meus  van  der  Heist's  militia  paintings,  the  "  Peace 
Banquet."  Twenty- four  civic  guards  are  seated 
or  standing  around  a  richly  laden  table  to  celebrate 
the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  which  on  the  i8th  of 
June,  1648,  made  an  end  to  the  eighty  years  war 
with  Spain.  In  our  latter-day  views  of  art  we 
would  call  it  an  extremely  decorative  tour-de-force, 
with  its  rich  and  bright  colours,  its  details  cgjrried 
out  with  scrupulous  nicety,  and  the  universal  in- 
sistence of  the  dramatis  personae.  Even  so  —  it  is 
more  than  that.  Its  perfection  of  design,  the  har- 
mony of  its  many  colour  tints,  the  clearness  of  the 
pigment,  the  expressive  portraiture  of  these  war- 
riors, happy  because  fighting  is  over,  especially  the 


228  Zbc  Hrt  of  tbe  taetberlan^  Galleries 

care  wherewith  the  hands  have  been  drawn  —  all 
this  has  rarely  been  excelled  in  this  class  of  paint- 
ings, and  make  us  forget  its  lack  of  atmosphere  and 
of  perspective.  Still  it  does  not  deserve  the  critique 
of  Reynolds,  who  called  it  "  the  most  beautiful  por- 
trait piece  in  the  world." 

Several  other  militia  paintings  cover  these  walls. 
Another  by  van  der  Heist  is  one  of  his  first  (painted 
in  1639),  as  it  is  the  largest  of  his  canvases.  It 
contains  thirty-two  figures  and  shows  the  Civic 
Guards  under  command  of  their  Captain  Roelof 
Bicker  gathered  before  the  brewery  "  de  Haan." 
The  work  is  signalized  by  the  same  qualities  of 
lively  arrangement,  decorative  colour  scheme,  and 
detail  painting. 

The  famous  "  Lean  Company,"  by  Frans  Hals, 
depicts  the  company  of  arquebusiers  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Reynier  Reael,  which  Frans  Hals 
painted  during  a  visit  to  Amsterdam.  He  did  not 
complete  the  work.  The  entire  left  side  of  the 
canvas,  up  to  the  figure  in  the  light,  is  by  Hals,  the 
rest  was  finished  by  Pieter  Codde.  This  is  the 
only  militia  piece  by  Hals  in  which  the  figures  are 
entire;  it  also  bears  the  strongest  evidence  of  the 
passing  influence  which  Rembrandt  exerted  upon 
Hals.  It  is  every  whit  as  remarkable  in  grouping, 
pose,  expression,  and  colour  as  the  Haarlem  mas- 
terpieces. 


TIClalfts  xrbrouQb  tbc  (Balleries       229 

One  of  the  very  few  scriptural  pieces  by  Ferdi- 
nand Bol,  "  Abraham  entertaining  the  Angels," 
used  to  be  a  mural  decoration  in  a  Utrecht  man- 
sion. An  "  Allegory  of  Peace  "  is  by  Jan  Lievens 
and  has  many  defects.  The  composition  is  awk- 
ward, and  the  woman  representing  Peace  squints 
dreadfully,  but  the  beauty  of  the  little  angels,  the 
Titianesque  colour,  and  the  van  Dyck  hands  some- 
what redeem  these  faults. 

We  ascend  now  the  little  staircase  leading  to  the 
hallway  that  brings  us  to  the  new  Rembrandt  Room, 
described  in  the  first  chapter  —  and  behold  "  The 
Night  Watch"  (Plate  VIII). 

At  first  view  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the  broad 
movement  of  light  and  shade,  which  like  colour- 
sounds  sing  through  the  composition;  and  by  that 
broad  and  forceful  execution  and  that  simple  splen- 
dour of  colour,  in  which  the  genius  of  the  master 
glows  like  a  lambent  flame.  Then  we  see  two  men 
approaching  us.  The  one  in  dark,  the  other  in  a 
light  costume.  The  master  emphasizes  still  further 
the  contrast  by  extending  the  dark  arm  over  the 
light  uniform  in  a  conversational  gesture,  together 
with  that  sunny  half-shadow  that  plays  such  an  im- 
portant part,  as  we  shall  see  later  on.  And  behind 
and  around  these  two  officers  come  the  members 
of  the  troop,  called  out  by  the  perspiring  drummer 
in  the  comer.     What  bravura  in  this  figure  with 


230  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  Betberlan^  Gallertcs 

its  pock-marked  face,  bibulous  nose,  fat  lips  and 
energetic  movements  of  the  arms!  This  grouping 
of  Captain  Banning  Cock's  Company  was  a  mag- 
nificent departure  from  the  orthodox  method  of 
giving  each  man  v^ho  paid  his  hundred  florins,  as 
sixteen  of  the  people  in  this  crowd  had  done,  an 
equal  prominence.  The  complaints  of  injured  van- 
ity when  the  painting  was  finished  were  many,  and 
the  artist's  clientele  for  this  class  of  pictures  dis- 
appeared —  mayhap  Rembrandt  never  understood 
why.  Perhaps  he  forgot  entirely,  while  at  work, 
what  was  expected  of  him:  to  paint  a  group  of 
sixteen  life-sized  portraits.  Instead  he  painted  the 
world's  masterpiece,  the  world's  wonder.  Every 
nook  and  corner  has  something  startling.  Look 
at  that  arquebusier  in  red  —  a  wonderful  red  of 
delicious  nuances ;  the  gray-green  tones  of  the  other 
figures;  that  little  girl  thrust  in  the  crowd  to  re- 
lieve the  up-and-down  lines,  a  light-bearing  fairy 
that  sets  the  shadows  aglow;  does  not  that  touch 
of  blue  on  the  lance  sparkle  as  a  jewel?  Every 
person,  the  comet,  the  halberdiers,  all  are  placed 
and  painted  to  form  a  constellation  of  splendour. 

This  painting  was  considerably  cut  down  to  fit 
a  wall-space,  when  it  was  removed  in  171 5  from 
the  Doelen  of  the  arquebusiers  to  the  old  City  Hall 
(now  the  Royal  Palace)  on  the  Dam.  On  the  left 
were  two  more  figures,  and  the  tambour  on  the  right 


llClalhs  tTbrouab  tbe  6allcrtes       231 

was  given  entire,  as  it  is  seen  in  the  copy  in  oil  by 
Gerrit  Lundens,  which  hangs  now  in  the  National 
Gallery  in  London,  and  one  in  water  colour,  now 
in  a  private  collection. 

An  interesting  question  may  be  raised  as  to  the 
correctness  of  the  title  of  this  masterpiece.  In  re- 
cent descriptions  we  find  everywhere  the  point  made 
that  the  title  of  "  Night  Watch  "  was  given  by 
French  writers  of  the  i8th  century,  who  called  the 
painting  "  Patrouille  de  Nuit,"  because  it  looked  to 
them  like  a  night  scene,  with  the  artificial  illumina- 
tion of  a  torch,  the  painting  being  darkened  by 
dirt  and  smoke.  Whether  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds, 
who  called  it  "The  Night  Watch,"  followed  the 
example  of  these  French  writers,  or  heard  it  thus 
called  on  his  visit  to  Amsterdam  in  1781,  we  may 
not  be  able  to  tell.  Van  Hoogstraten  calls  it  in 
1678  "  Painting  of  the  civil  guard,"  and  Wagenaar, 
a  century  later,  names  it,  "  Sortie  of  the  company 
of  Captain  Frans  Banning  Cock."  He  further  de- 
clares that  the  incident  chosen  was  to  assist  at  the 
entrance  of  Willem  of  Orange  and  his  wife  Mary, 
daughter  of  Charles  I,  into  Amsterdam,  which  sup- 
position is,  however,  discarded  as  being  without 
foundation.  The  earliest  authentic  title  is  found 
on  the  water-colour  copy  of  Gerrit  Lundens,  painted 
about  fifteen  years  after  the  original,  on  which  is 
found  the  inscription,  "  The  young  Heer  van  Pur- 


232  Ube  art  ot  tbe  1Retbcrlan&  Galleries 

merland  gives  to  his  lieutenant  Heer  van  Vlaer- 
dingen  orders  to  march  his  troup."  It  has  been  sug- 
gested that  this  sortie  was  for  a  shooting-match, 
because  the  Httle  girl  in  the  crowd  carries  a  stuffed 
bird,  and  the  boy,  playing  with  her,  a  headpiece, 
both  articles  being  claimed  to  be  the  prizes  for  the 
match.  This  is  a  far-fetched  supposition,  as  such 
articles  would  not  be  left  in  the  keeping  of  playing 
children,  nor  would  these  children  be  able  to  keep 
up  with  a  marching  troop  from  the  centre  of  the 
city  to  the  shooting-range,  beyond  the  town  gates, 
a  distance  of  several  miles. 

It  is  not  only  possible,  but  most  probable  that 
the  popular  title,  "  The  Night  Watch,"  for  short, 
was  given  to  the  painting  from  the  beginning,  and 
that  for  the  following  reason.  In  Holland  the 
military  division  of  watches  in  garrison  towns,  even 
to  this  day,  makes  the  Night  Watch,  to  man  the 
various  posts  at  the  city  gates  and  barracks,  com- 
mence at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  To  reach 
the  gates  from  the  Doelen,  in  the  centre  of  the  city, 
would  require  the  preparations  for  marching  to  be 
made  at  four.  Now  we  notice  that  the  shadow  cast 
by  the  Captain's  hand  is  at  an  angle  of  45  degrees. 
This  indicates  the  height  of  the  sun  in  summer  in 
Holland  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  as  the 
sun  does  not  set  before  eight  o'clock.  This  Com- 
pany, therefore,  comes  down  the  steps  of  the  Doe- 


TIDlalfts  Ubrougb  tbe  Oallerfes       233 

len,  as  the  Night  Watch,  to  march  out  to  relieve 
the  Day  Watch,  and  later,  after  midnight,  they  will 
be  relieved  by  the  Morning  Watch. 

But  it  matters  not  what  we  call  this  marvellous 
creation  of  Rembrandt's  inspired  brush.  The  paint- 
ing is  in  itself  so  majestic  and  commanding  that 
it  sweeps  all  petty  query  aside  when  we  stand  before 
this  canvas  to  view  which  a  world's  journey  should 
not  be  too  onerous. 

We  pass  now  through  a  small  doorway  at  the  left 
of  the  painting  and  enter  the  first  one  of  two  cab- 
inets in  which  the  smaller  works  of  Rembrandt  are 
shown.  As  we  enter  the  room  our  eyes  fall  on  that 
other  masterpiece,  "  De  Staalmeesters,"  Syndics  of 
the  Cloth-Guild  (Plate  IX),  the  crowning  manifes- 
tation of  his  genius,  painted  in  1661.  If  the 
"  Night  Watch "  showed  Rembrandt  as  he  gave 
full  sway  to  the  perfect  combination  of  his  poetic 
imagination  with  energetic  realism,  in  the  "  Syn- 
dics "  we  find  the  academic  perfection  of  the  paint- 
er's art,  infused  with  that  vital  principle  for  which 
Pygmalion  prayed  before  the  statue  of  Galatea. 
These  five  Directors  of  the  Cloth-Guild  are  ar- 
ranged around  their  council  table  in  unstudied  vari- 
ety of  attitude.  The  style  of  the  collar  is  the  only 
difference  in  their  attire  of  black  velvet  and  soft 
hats,  and  yet  the  master's  genius  finds  an  oppor- 
tunity to  differentiate  between  them.     The  heads, 


234  ^be  art  ot  tbe  laetberlanO  Galleries 

or  rather  the  features,  enable  him  to  impose  upon 
us  the  distincion  between  five  men  of  dignity  and 
authority,  the  servant's  face,  less  intelligent,  acting 
as  a  foil.  There  is  a  warm  harmony  of  colour,  a 
gently  diffused  light,  a  largeness  of  effect,  which 
yield  the  decisive  impression  that  we  stand  before 
one  of  the  greatest  masterpieces  of  pictorial  art. 

The  remnant  of  the  partly  burnt  "  Anatomy  Les- 
son of  Doctor  Johan  Deyman,"  painted  in  1656, 
hangs  on  another  wall.  Even  what  is  left  of  this 
work  denotes  the  masterful  manner  of  execution. 
We  can  do  no  better  than  listen  to  the  impression 
it  made  on  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  as  he  describes  it 
in  his  "  Tour  of  Holland."  Says  he,  "  The  heads 
of  this  fragment  leave  a  powerful  impression, 
which  recalls  Michel  Angelo,  the  execution  is  ex- 
cellent, and  the  colour  reminds  one  of  Titian."  The 
remarkable  knowledge  which  Rembrandt  must  have 
had  of  muscular  anatomy  is  to  be  noted  in  the  won- 
derful foreshortening  of  the  cadaver. 

A  famous  example  of  the  great  master's  land- 
scape painting  is  "  The  Stone  Bridge."  It  is  dark 
in  tone,  distinct  in  manner  from  that  of  preceding 
landscape  painters,  and  heralds  the  coming  glory 
of  Ruisdael  and  of  Hobbema.  A  mythological 
composition,  called  the  "  Metamorphosis  of  Nar- 
cissus," also  proves  that  Rembrandt's  power  with 
the  etching  needle  to  delineate  the  beauties  of  na- 


'IRIlalfts  ZbxowQb  tbe  Galleries       235 

ture,  was  equally  efficient  with  the  brush.  A  few 
portraits  and  study  heads  complete  the  works  of 
Rembrandt  owned  by  the  Museum,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  these  which  we  will  see  later  in  the  collec- 
tions had  to  remain  intact  by  testamentary  dispo- 
sition. 

Turning  now  to  the  left,  we  pass  through  a  nar- 
row passageway  that  leads  along  the  tiled  wall,  rep- 
resenting "  Rembrandt  in  his  studio,"  which  used 
to  be  the  outer  wall  of  the  Museum  before  this 
lean-to  had  been  built.  Thus  we  return  to  Room 
243,  and  proceed  to  Room  236,  called  the  Carlo- 
vingian  Room,  being  built  in  imitation  of  the  Em- 
peror's Hall,  which  Charlemagne  erected  in  the 
narthex  of  the  church  of  St.  Servatius  at  Maast- 
richt. Thence  we  enter  the  International  Gallery 
(R.  235),  in  which  are  placed  the  paintings  of  early 
foreign  schools.  We  commence  with  the  North 
wall  and  note  an  Anton  van  Dyck  in  his  first  (Ru- 
bens) period,  "The  Repentant  Magdalene."  A 
portrait  of  the  same  period,  of  "  J.  van  der  Borcht, 
Burgomaster  of  Antwerp,"  a  little  blackish,  enables 
us  to  study  the  master's  individual  progress  by  com- 
paring it  with  the  last  canvas  van  Dyck  completed. 
This  is  called  "  Portrait  of  Prins  Willem  II  of 
Orange  and  his  bride  Mary  Stuart."  Lady  Jane 
Roxbrough,  Lady-in-waiting  to  Queen  Henrietta, 
wrote  on  the  13th  of  August,  1641,  that  "  van  Dyck 


336  trbe  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlant)  Galleries 

was  then  working  on  this  group  and  hoped  to  have 
it  finished  soon  "  —  the  master  died  on  the  9th  of 
December  of  that  year.  The  young  people,  stand- 
ing hand-in-hand  at  the  base  of  a  column,  look  out 
of  the  canvas  at  the  spectator.  It  is  a  typical  work 
of  the  courtly  artist.  The  rich  satin  and  brocade, 
the  delicate  hands  and  the  refined  manner  of  paint- 
ing the  features  all  point  to  the  facility  which  his 
industrious  hand  had  acquired.  This  group  offers 
also  an  excellent  example  to  show  where  van  Dyck 
fundamentally  differed  from  the  Dutch  school. 
His  primary  object  was  the  painting,  not  the  sitter 
—  the  reverse  with  the  Dutch.  He  paints  that  pos- 
terity may  know  van  Dyck,  the  Dutch  that  pos- 
erity  may  know  the  person  portrayed.  He  lacks 
solidarity,  or  is  not  what  may  be  called  an  intimate 
portraitist,  no  matter  how  far  he  may  excel  in  ele- 
gance of  outlines,  sense  of  proportion,  and  able 
technic. 

Two  church  interiors  by  Pieter  Neefs  precede 
three  small  panels  by  David  Teniers,  the  Younger, 
entitled :  "  The  Village  Inn,"  "  Workingmen  Rest- 
ing," and  "  The  Guard  Room."  Quite  near  hangs 
a  **  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  which  was  a  fa- 
vourite subject  with  Teniers.  Its  treatment  is  not 
up  to  the  one  in  Berlin,  although  equally  grotesque. 
Of  greater  importance  is  the  still  life  by  Frans 
Snyders,   which  rivals  the  work  of  his  Northern 


TKHalhs  Ubrougb  tbe  Gallerfcs       237 

brethren,  and  an  Italian  landscape  with  ruins  by 
Paulus  Bril.  A  sketch  by  Rubens,  "  Bearing  the 
Cross,"  is  the  study  for  the  large  painting  of  this 
subject  now  in  Brussels.  A  fine  view  of  Antwerp 
by  his  pupil  Jan  Wildens,  and  a  mythologic  "  Diana 
and  Endymion,"  by  Rembrandt's  detractor,  Gerard 
de  Lairesse,  are  still  to  be  noted,  together  with  a 
Spanish  school  portrait  of  "  Karel  Balthasar,  son 
of  Philip  IV  of  Spain." 

The  entire  East  wall  is  taken  up  with  two  large 
paintings  by  Caspar  de  Crayer,  the  contemporary 
of  Rubens,  who  still  maintained  his  individuality. 
The  **  Descent  of  the  Cross  "  is,  however,  far  better 
than  the  "  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds."  Both 
show  the  ready  draughtsmanship,  glowing  colour 
and  dramatic  action  of  this  distinguished  Fleming. 
Following  the  South  wall  we  come  to  one  of  the 
early  Flemish  portrait  painters,  Frans  Franken, 
whose  **  Allegory  on  the  Abdication  of  Charles  V 
at  Brussels  "  is  a  curious  mixture  of  a  group  of 
royalties  in  the  middle  distance,  with  Neptune  in 
his  chariot,  drawn  by  sea-horses,  and  other  figures 
representing  the  four  comers  of  the  earth  in  the 
foreground.  The  catalogue  gives  this  painting  un- 
justly to  his  uncle  Jeroen  Franken.  The  portrait 
of  Cornells  Nuyts,  by  Jurriaen  Ovens,  indicates 
that  Rembrandt's  influence  even  extended  to  the 
south.  Three  more  compositions  by  de  Lairesse 
hang  on  this  wall. 


238  Ube  art  ot  tbe  •fletberlan&  Galleries 

The  authorities  of  the  Ryks  Museum  are  exceed- 
ingly loath  to  furnish  attributions  to  paintings  of 
doubtful  origin,  hence  we  find,  especially  in  this 
gallery,  a  number  of  school-paintings,  so  styled. 
There  are  several  canvases  of  more  or  less  impor- 
tance given  to  the  Spanish,  Flemish,  or  Italian 
schools,  or  marked  as  copies.  An  indubitable  Mu- 
rillo,  "  The  Annunciation,"  is  a  replica  of  a  like 
painting  hanging  in  the  hospital  at  Seville.  A 
painting  by  Rubens,  "  Filial  Love,"  illustrates  the 
tale  from  Roman  history  when  Cimon  was  cast  in 
prison  under  condemnation  to  die  of  starvation. 
His  daughter  Pera  was,  however,  allowed  to  visit 
him,  when  she  nourished  her  aged  father  at  her 
breast.  The  painting  shows  the  moment  of  detec- 
tion. Her  filial  piety  was  rewarded  with  the  liberty 
of  her  parent.  It  is  a  subject  to  which  the  artist 
has  devoted  his  best  powers.  Pieter  Breughel,  so- 
called  "  Hellish  Breughel,"  has  an  "  Adoration  of 
the  Magi,"  more  sedate  than  his  usual,  grotesque 
portrayal  of  fiendish  circumstances,  which  gave  him 
his  unsavoury  title. 

On  the  short  West  wall  we  find  another  "  Temp- 
tation of  St.  Anthony,"  by  the  satirical  Jeroen 
Bosch,  who  really  belongs  to  the  Dutch  school. 
There  are  copies  of  portraits  by  Quentin  Massys 
and  Hans  Holbein.  The  most  interesting  picture 
here  is,   however,   the  large  painting  of   "  Christ 


TKIlalfts  Ubrougb  tbe  aallerics       239 

with  Mary  and  Martha,"  also  called  "  A  Flemish 
Kitchen,"  by  the  early  Fleming  Joachim  Buecke- 
laer,  which  contains  some  excellent  still  life  paint- 
ing of  vegetables,  fruit  and  game. 

Traversing  again  this  long  gallery  we  come  to 
a  square  room  (R.  228),  in  which  a  beginning  is 
made  with  the  historical  development  of  Dutch  art, 
and  which  contains  the  earliest  works,  mediaeval 
and  early  i6th  century.  We  start  at  our  right  and 
find  a  "  Crucifixion,"  by  Cornells  Engelbrechtsz. 
van  Leiden,  It  is  a  curious  early  painting,  with  its 
stiff  and  angular  figures  of  saints.  Next  to  it  hangs 
a  "  Calvary,"  that  bears  resemblance  in  treatment  to 
the  paintings  in  Hoorn  by  Comelissen  van  Oostsa- 
nen,  but  not  being  sufficiently  identified,  is  only 
ascribed  to  his  school.  A  "  Portrait  of  Philip  of 
Burgundy,  Bishop  of  Utrecht "  used  to  be  given 
to  Lukas  van  Leiden,  but  was  painted  by  Jan  Gos- 
saert,  called  Mabuse,  when  this  artist  resided  in 
Utrecht, 

Two  of  the  first  group  painters  now  claim  our 
attention,  each  with  two  canvases.  Those  by  Dirk 
Jacobsz.  are  dated  1529.  One  contains  twelve,  the 
other  one  seventeen  figures.  The  two  other  gardes- 
de-corps  are  by  Cornells  Teunissen.  The  relation 
with  the  school  of  van  Eyck  is  strikingly  apparent 
in  these  groups  —  the  minute  execution  of  detail, 
the  simplicity  and  naturalness  of  presentation.    We 


240  Xlbc  Hrt  ot  tbe  Tletberlan&  (Ballerles 

may  also  notice  the  infancy  of  pictorial  art  in  its 
expansion  from  miniature,  for  Jacobsz.,  especially 
in  his  panel  with  seventeen  figures,  seems  to  have 
been  ignorant  of  the  demands  of  unity  of  design. 
He  apparently  desired  to  lay  particular  stress  on  the 
painting  of  the  hands,  which  are  beautifully  done, 
but  decidedly  destroy  the  coherence  of  the  compo- 
sition. A  much  later  group  piece,  dated  1562,  in 
which  fourteen  figures  are  crowded  on  a  panel, 
only  14  X  19,  is  by  Dirk  Barendsz.  It  bears  Titian- 
esque  traits,  and  is  much  warmer  in  colour  than  the 
work  of  his  predecessors.  The  alignment  of  the 
faces  is  primitive,  but  their  expression  remarkably 
virile  and  full  of  character.  On  the  opposite  wall 
hangs  his  more  renowned  "Fish  Eaters"  (Plate 
V),  which  is  in  somewhat  damaged  condition,  but 
clearly  displays  the  best  characteristics  of  these 
early  group  paintings. 

Close  together  hang  two  panels  by  the  earliest 
painter  of  note,  Geertgen  van  St.  Jans.  "  The  Life 
and  Martyrdom  of  Saint  Lucia  of  Syracuse  "  pre- 
sents several  episodes,  joined  in  different  planes  of 
the  composition.  The  Saint  is  surrounded  by  her 
tormentors,  next  she  is  seen  kneeling  before  a  priest, 
and  further  on  she  is  decapitated.  The  character- 
istics of  the  artist  are  still  more  pronounced  in  the 
other  panel,  which  is  an  "  Allegory  upon  the  Sacri- 
fice of  the  New  Testament."     This  painting  was 


Malfts  Ubrouab  tbe  Galleries        241 

ascribed  to  van  Eyck,  to  whom  at  first  most  paint- 
ings of  this  kind  were  attributed,  but  later  study 
has  separated  him  from  many  works  that  went  by 
his  name,  and  Bode,  Bredius,  Hymans,  etc.,  have 
recognized  and  pointed  out  convincingly  the  pecul- 
iar manner  of  the  Northern  artist,  Geertgen  van 
St.  Jans.  His  most  significant  traits  are  the  oval 
faces  of  the  women,  with  their  strange  head-dress- 
ing, a  certain  rigidity  in  the  composition,  but  at 
the  same  time  a  more  lustrous  light  effect  than  is 
found  in  Flemish  pictures. 

We  leave  for  the  moment  this  room  to  enter  an 
alcove  (K),  where  we  find  several  altar  pieces  of 
the  1 6th  century,  mounted  on  screens.  These 
fairly  represent  the  execution  of  sacred  art  of  the 
time.  Only  one  has  its  authorship  verified,  and  is 
ascribed  to  Maerten  van  Heemskerck,  a  wing  of  a 
triptych,  formerly  in  a  church  in  Delft.  It  shows 
the  peculiar  introduction  of  heathen  mythology  in 
Christian  decorations,  for  it  represents  the  Sibyl 
Erythrea,  while  on  the  back  is  the  portrait  of  the 
donor,  Te  Matenlief  Dammasz,  We  note  also  on 
the  walls  six  portraits  of  members  of  the  old  aris- 
tocratic family  of  van  Naeldwyck  from  the  15th 
century,  by  an  unknown. 

Returning  to  R.  228  we  notice  near  the  door  a 
characteristic  example  by  Pieter  Aertsen,  named 
"  Lange   Pier,"   who   tells  the   story   of   a   frugal 


242  XTbc  art  of  tbe  TletberlanD  Oallcries 

housefather,  busy  counting  his  barley-grains,  and, 
lest  we  do  not  understand  the  quizzical  artist's 
meaning,  he  has  added  a  Dutch  doggerel,  "If  I 
want  to  arrange  my  household  with  care,  I  must 
count  the  barley  in  the  pot."  A  little  further  on 
hangs  his  more  famous  "  Egg  Dancer."  The  sev- 
eral figures  are  somewhat  grotesque,  and  out  of 
drawing,  but  the  animation  of  the  scene  is  capti- 
vating. A  little  further  on  is  the  fragment  of  a 
painting  by  Aertsen  of  more  serious  import,  called 
"  The  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds."  It  was  much 
damaged  by  a  fire  in  1652.  Of  two  panels  by 
Jakob  Comelisz.  van  Oostsanen  the  "  Portrait  of 
a  Man,"  possibly  representing  the  artist  himself, 
gives  an  excellent  estimate  of  his  work.  The  other 
one,  called  "  Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor,"  is  much 
painted  over  and  hardly  characteristic.  It  is  more 
reminiscent  of  Jeroen  Bosch,  of  whom  we  find  a 
small  panel  hanging  next.  This  is  a  satire  on  the 
medical  profession,  in  which  a  charlatan  makes  his 
patient  believe  that  he  extracted  a  pebble,  which 
he  shows,  out  of  the  fool's  head  —  a  subject  also 
treated  later  by  Jan  Steen. 

On  the  North  and  West  walls  are  several  paint- 
ings by,  and  from  the  school  of,  Jan  van  Scorel. 
Most  noted  of  these  is  his  "  Mary  Magdalene " 
(Plate  IV).  While  the  painting  bears  the  Vene- 
tian earmarks,  it  also  shows  Scorel's  profound  love 


Malfts  Ubrouob  tbe  Galleries        243 

for  beauty  of  lines.  The  mouth,  eyes,  nose,  and 
the  contour  of  the  face  are  exquisitely  fine,  the  pose 
is  remarkably  easy,  and  the  details  of  the  rich  gown 
and  of  the  cup  denote  the  master-hand.  A  tableau 
of  seventeen  archers  is  also  from  his  hand.  Among 
the  school  pictures  there  are  some  of  great  interest, 
as  "  David  and  Bathsheba,"  and  "  Mary's  Depar- 
ture." Lukas  van  Leiden  is  also  represented  on 
this  wall  by  a  "  Church  Service." 

We  enter  now  Room  227,  where  we  find  three 
examples  of  Aert  Pietersen.  First  we  note  a  group 
painting  of  nineteen  arquebusiers,  and  next  to  it, 
"  Six  Syndics  of  the  Lakenhal  of  Amsterdam." 
Opposite  hangs  his  "  Anatomical  Lesson  of  Doc- 
tor Sebastian  Egbertsz."  Both  these  latter  sub- 
jects were  long  after  handled  by  Rembrandt,  but 
despite  comparisons,  we  must  accord  Pietersen's 
presentation  fair  praise.  There  are  also  three  ex- 
amples by  Comelis  Cornelissen  van  Haarlem,  a 
portrait  of  Dirck  Coornhert,  the  noted  engraver, 
poet,  and  savant,  and  next  to  it  his  **  Adam  and 
Eve  in  Paradise."  On  the  opposite  wall  is  his  third 
example,  "  The  Massacre  of  the  Innocents."  In 
these  paintings  we  notice  the  painter's  habitual  er- 
rors of  excessive  elongation  of  the  chest  and  the 
abdomen  in  his  drawing  of  the  nude,  although  he 
seems  thoroughly  conversant  with  the  rest  of  the 
human  anatomy.     It  suggests  that  in  these  early 


144  ^be  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Wetberlan^  Gallertcs 

times  nude  paintings  were  made  from  draped  mod- 
els. His  work  possesses  grace  and  invention.  A 
small  example  of  Pieter  Lastman,  who  taught 
Rembrandt,  and  involuntarily  suggested  to  him  how 
not  to  paint  in  the  style  of  Caravaggio,  shows  here 
an  Italianesque  "  Christ  and  the  Lepers." 

On  the  East  wall  we  will  pass  a  few  small  panels 
by  van  de  Venne,  of  whom  we  will  see  more  fur- 
ther on,  and  note  "  Moses  changing  the  Waters 
into  Blood,"  by  Jan  Pinas,  of  whom  we  only  know 
that  he  belonged  to  the  Dutch  colony  in  Rome  with 
Lastman,  Poelenburg,  and  the  others.  A  three- 
quarter  length  portrait  of  Maria  van  Utrecht,  wife 
of  Johan  van  Oldenbarnevelt,  is  a  creditable  docu- 
ment from  the  hand  of  Paulus  Moreelse.  Roeland 
Savery,  claimed  by  virtue  of  his  long  residence  in 
Utrecht  as  belonging  to  the  school,  has  a  canvas 
showing  the  "  Prophet  Elisha  fed  by  the  Ravens," 
and  a  fine  rocky  landscape  in  the  next  room.  David 
Vinckboons  shows  the  "  Preaching  of  John  the 
Baptist."  His  two  compositions  on  the  next  wall 
of  soldiers  and  peasants,  changing  places  as  victors 
and  conquered,  are  more  interesting.  Melchior 
d'Hondecoeter's  father,  Gilles,  is  represented  by 
"  Deer  in  a  Forest,"  and  on  the  next  wall  by  a 
landscape. 

The  first  painter  who  found  his  inspiration  in 
the   national   sport   of   skating   was   Hendrik   van 


IQlalfts  XTbrouab  tbe  Galleries       245 

Avercamp,  a  deaf-mute,  whose  vivacious  winter 
diversions  are  the  forerunners  of  those  by  Izaak 
van  Ostade  and  van  Goyen.  Nothing  is  known  of 
him  except  that  he  Hved  in  the  first  half  of  the 
17th  century.  Several  of  his  works  are  in  Kam- 
pen.  His  "  Winter  View  near  a  Village,"  which 
hangs  here,  is  truly  characteristic.  Neither  do  we 
know  much  of  Jacob  Willemsz.  Delff,  his  contem- 
porary, but  his  portrait  here  of  Paulus  van  Bere- 
steyn  is  to  be  noted. 

On  the  North  and  West  walls  we  find  three  of 
the  best  examples  of  Adriaen  Pietersz.  van  de 
Venne,  which  are  in  excellent  condition.  In  the 
"  Prince  Maurits  visiting  the  Kermis  at  Ryswyk  " 
we  are  astounded  at  the  freshness  of  treatment, 
the  minute  detail  of  drawing,  the  movement  of  the 
crowd,  the  piquancy  of  the  various  groups,  and  the 
largeness  of  conception.  The  "  Fishing  for  Souls  " 
possesses  all  these  qualities,  but  it  is  besides  more 
caustic  in  its  satire.  It  is  an  allegory  on  the  results 
of  the  Twelve  Years  Truce,  which  suspended  the 
war  with  Spain  in  1609,  and  which  included  as  one 
of  its  conditions  liberty  of  faith.  The  artist  pic- 
tures humourously  the  efforts  of  Protestants  and 
Romanists  meanwhile  to  gain  adherents.  Catholic 
dignitaries  fill  one  boat,  Protestant  clergymen  an- 
other, and  nets  are  cast  out  to  catch  the  swimmers. 
On  either  bank  of  the  river  the  parties  are  gathered 


246  Ube  art  ot  tbe  fletberlant)  Galleries 

to  witness  the  result.  Prins  Maurits  and  Prins 
Frederik,  as  well  as  the  artist,  are  pictured  on  the 
Protestant  side.  Velvet  Breughel  painted  the  land- 
scape. Entirely  of  van  de  Venue's  own  brush,  and 
one  of  his  earliest  works,  is  the  "  View  of  the  Har- 
bour of  Middelburg." 

Nicolaes  Moeyaert,  whose  work  we  have  al- 
ready seen,  has  a  biblical  tableau  of  the  "  Meeting 
of  Jacob  and  Rachel  at  the  Well."  A  fine  presen- 
tation of  the  defeat  of  the  Spanish  Armada  by  the 
Dutch  and  English  is  given  by  A.  van  Antum,  of 
whom  nothing  is  known,  although  he  must  have 
been  a  redoubtable  marine  painter,  as  shown  in 
another  view  of  calm  seas  and  shipping,  that  hangs 
near.  The  only  example  of  the  marine  painter 
Jan  Willaerts  hangs  between. 

We  proceed  to  the  next  Room  (226).  In  this 
room  we  find  the  work  of  Werner  van  den  Val- 
kert,  a  pupil  of  Goltzius,  whose  portraits  have 
sometimes  been  ascribed  to  Moreelse.  Of  Antony 
Palamedes  we  find  here  two  portraits,  although  he 
is  better  known  for  his  animated  conversation 
pieces.  Two  portraits  and  a  family  group  by  Dirk 
Santvoort  are  Rembrandtesque.  More  individual 
is  the  portrait  of  Jacob  Cats  by  Mierevelt,  and  that 
of  Pieter  Schout,  Burgomaster  of  Haarlem,  by 
Johannes  Verspronck.  It  is  interesting  to  study 
the  pre-Rembrandt  portraits  in  this  room,  for  we 


xmialfts  ZbvowQb  tbe  Galleries       247 

have  here  also  a  Ravesteyn,  two  Mierevelts,  and 
notably  a  "  Dutch  Family  "  by  Thomas  de  Keyzer. 
Conspicuous  among  these  portraits  is  the  "  Church 
Interior  "  by  P.  J.  Saenredam,  and  two  landscapes 
by  Esaias  van  de  Velde. 

In  Room  225  we  are  advancing  to  the  later  men, 
and  are  attracted  on  the  South  wall  by  fine  exam- 
ples of  still  life.  "Dead  Poultry"  by  W.  van 
Aelst,  and  "  Fish  "  by  Abraham  van  Beyeren.  On 
the  East  wall  hang  two  portraits  by  van  der  Heist, 
of  which  the  man's  portrait  is  the  most  important. 
Paul  Potter's  "  Orpheus  taming  the  Animals " 
shows  his  feeble  attempt  to  paint  various  animals, 
and  does  not  contribute  to  his  just  reputation.  The 
menagerie  which  Orpheus  has  collected  is  charac- 
terless. The  best  work  on  this  wall  is  "  The  Rev- 
erie," by  Maes,  which  is  a  masterpiece  of  natural 
grace,  expression,  and  colour.  A  young  girl  rests 
her  elbow  and  arm  on  a  pillow  in  the  embrasure 
of  an  arched  dormer-window,  while  she  holds  her 
chin  in  her  left  hand,  in  contemplative  mood. 

On  the  North  wall  are  found  several  important 
paintings.  "  The  Hut,"  a  canvas  by  Adriaen  van 
de  Velde,  has  been  variously  judged.  Waagen 
considers  it  a  work  which  shows  that  the  artist  had 
lost  his  cunning,  while  Smith  and  Bredius  declare 
it  a  fine  example,  showing  the  tender  care  the  mas- 
ter bestowed  on  each  figure  in  the  composition. 


248  XTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  •RetberlanD  (3aUertcs 

Since  there  are  few  works  by  A.  van  de  Velde  equal 
to  this  one,  the  latter  critics  must  be  right.  A  still 
life  by  Pieter  de  Ring  (1615-1660)  is  to  be  noticed. 
It  is  all  we  know  or  have  of  this  man.  Of  the 
many-sided  Karel  du  Jardin  we  have  an  Italian 
landscape,  "  The  Mule-drivers,"  which  is  surpassed 
by  a  thoroughly  Dutch  landscape  with  cattle  by 
Aelbert  Cuyp,  while  next  to  this  hangs  Wouwer- 
man's  "  The  Riding  School,"  of  equal  national 
feeling.  The  talent  of  Gerard  Dou  is  now  seen 
in  a  small  panel,  giving  the  portraits  of  Pieter  van 
der  Werff,  Burgomaster  of  Leyden,  and  of  his 
wife.  The  harmonious  ensemble  and  admirable  de- 
tail are  characteristic,  although  the  general  effect 
suffers  somewhat  by  the  sombre  background 
painted  by  Berchem. 

On  the  West  wall  we  have  a  first  view  of  Jan 
Steen,  whose  numerous  other  paintings  in  the  Ryks 
Museum  are,  however,  more  characteristic  subjects. 
This  one  presents  one  of  his  few  bible-scenes,  "  The 
Pilgrims  of  Emmaus."  Govert  Flinck's  "  Portrait 
of  Gerard  Hulft  "  shows  this  East-Indian  Governor 
in  typical  attitude.  An  excellent  van  Goyen,  a 
"  River  View,"  has  his  magnificent  sky  and  limpid 
water. 

Through  an  alcove  which  is  too  dark  to  allow 
us  more  than  glance  at  a  number  of  portraits  of 
little  importance  we  enter  on  the  left  the  Regent 


K    Ji 


TKIlalhs  Ubrougb  tbe  Galleries        249 

or  Militia  Gallery  (214).  This  entire  gallery  is 
filled  with  large  canvases  belonging  to  the  city  of 
Amsterdam,  and  which  were  painted  on  municipal 
commissions.  They  are  hung  in  somewhat  chron- 
ological order.  Beginning  with  the  South  wall  at 
the  left  on  entering  we  find  the  martial  group  of 
Captain  Dirk  Rosecrans  and  his  Company  of 
twelve,  painted  in  the  stirring  times  of  1588  by 
Comelis  Ketel.  A  group  with  nineteen  arque- 
busiers  is  by  Aert  Pietersen.  One  by  P.  Moreelse 
does  not  possess  much  attraction.  The  group  of 
four  Directors  of  Het  Spinhuis  (House  of  Correc- 
tion) is  a  creditable  work  by  Nicolas  Elias  Pick- 
enoy.  It  declares  the  accomplished  master,  whose 
art  often,  as  it  does  here,  reaches  the  best  of 
Thomas  de  Keyzer's  single  portrait  work.  These 
Regents  are  seated  behind  a  table,  covered  with 
account  books  and  writing  materials.  They  are 
dressed  in  black,  with  white  ruff  collars  and  cuffs. 
Their  heads  are  covered  with  the  large  "  flap " 
hats  of  the  time,  and  a  bare-headed  beadle  hands 
a  paper  to  one  Regent,  who  is  writing,  while  anh 
other  one  is  counting  some  money.  The  disposition 
of  the  figures  is  natural.  They  are  seen  in  a  clear 
light  and  painted  with  authority  in  a  warm  colour. 
Of  Comelis  van  der  Voort  we  find  a  corps-de- 
gardes  with  twelve  figures,  and  a  little  further  on 
his  portrait  of  Lieutenant  Hasselaer,  and  also  three 


aso  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  metberlanD  Galleries 

large  group  paintings.  The  large  military  group  of 
Captain  Allard  Cloeck  and  his  company,  by  Thomas 
de  Keyzer,  is  not  happily  arranged,  although  the 
individual  heads  are  excellent.  Dirk  Santvoort's 
"  Four  Women-Regents  of  the  Spinhuis  "  ( Plate 
XI)  is  considered  his  masterpiece.  The  features 
of  these  women  are  decidedly  plain,  yet  they  have 
a  patrician  air  that  lends  distinction,  notably  the 
President  on  the  left,  holding  her  eyeglasses  to  ex- 
amine a  piece  of  lace-trimming.  Regent  groups  by 
W.  van  den  Valkert,  and  by  Nicolaes  Moeyaert 
bring  us  to  the  West  wall,  which  is  entirely  covered 
by  a  large  canvas,  eight  feet  high  by  seventeen  feet 
wide,  on  which  Captain  Jacob  Rogh  with  his  of- 
ficers and  soldiers  are  portrayed  by  Nicolas  Elias. 
The  first  painting  on  the  North  wall  is  also  by 
Elias,  and  shows  the  officers  of  this  same  company 
seated  around  the  banquet-board.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  this  canvas  served  as  a  model  to  van 
der  Heist  for  his  "  Peace  Banquet."  Above  this 
painting  hangs  de  Keyzer's  "  Anatomical  Lesson 
of  Dr.  Sebastian  Egbertsz.  de  Vry,"  which  was  the 
first  painting  of  this  artist  of  which  we  have  record, 
being  painted  in  1619,  when  de  Keyzer  was  twenty- 
three  years  old.  His  early  talent  of  a  summary 
way  of  painting  the  heads  is  apparent;  but  it  is 
also  of  interest  to  note  the  high  colour  given  to 
the  cheeks,  which  recalls  the  carnation  of  Cornells 


TRaalftB  UbrouQb  tbe  Galleries       251 

van  der  Voort,   and  confirms  the  theory  that  de 
Keyzer  had  been  a  pupil  of  that  master. 

A  large  canvas  is  by  the  German  Joachim  von 
Sandrart,  painted  while  he  was  in  Amsterdam, 
studying  with  and  imitating  Rembrandt,  and  at  the 
same  time  reviling  him,  A  canvas  as  large  as  the 
Elias  is  the  "  Peace  Festival  "  by  Govert  Flinck, 
in  which  Joan  Huydecoper  van  Maarseveen,  Cap- 
tain of  the  Civic  Guard,  is  being  congratulated  by 
his  Company  at  the  entrance  of  their  Doelen. 
Flinck's  "  Company  of  Captain.  Albert  Bas "  has 
a  different  arrangement  of  the  figures,  the  canvas 
being  an  upright.  The  artist  does  not  show  the 
influence  of  Rembrandt  in  these  two  canvases  as 
much  as  elsewhere.  The  handling  is  supple,  the 
colour  gay,  the  ensemble  harmonious,  although  the 
drawing  of  the  hands  is  not  always  proportionate. 
Another  anatomical  lesson,  painted  by  Nicolas 
Elias,  was  much  damaged  by  fire,  whereby  several 
of  its  figures,  and  these  the  most  important  ones, 
are  lost. 

Ferdinand  Bol  has  two  Regent  pieces  of  the 
Lepers'  Hospital,  and  one  of  six  Regents  of  the 
"  Huiszittenhuis  "  (Plate  XIII).  This  one  with 
the  six  Directors  has  always  been  considered  Bol's 
masterpiece  for  its  strength  of  colour,  the  velvety 
softness  of  the  handling,  and  the  impressive  dig- 
nity of  the  facial  expressions  and  attitudes.    These 


252  XCbe  art  ot  tbe  Betberlant)  aallertes 

men  offer  a  wide  range  of  character,  the  dignity  of 
one,  the  reflective  mood  of  another,  and  again  the 
more  animal  passions  of  a  good-liver.  It  may  be 
placed  with  the  best  of  all  group  pictures  of  this 
age. 

The  Regent  piece  of  Pieter  van  Anraadt  con- 
tains the  portrait  of  Bol,  recognized  by  his  prom- 
inent nose.  This  head  differs  so  much  from  An- 
raadt's  usual  style,  and  is  so  completely  in  Bol's 
own  manner,  that  it  is  most  probable  that  Bol  him- 
self added  this  self-portrait. 

We  proceed  again  through  the  dark  alcove  and, 
turning  left,  enter  the  series  of  small  Cabinets 
(219-215  and  274-279),  which  extend  along  the 
entire  North  wall  of  the  building.  They  are  lighted 
from  the  side  windows,  and  contain  principally 
pictures  of  small  dimensions  of  the  17th  century 
school,  especially  of  the  so-called  "  Little  Masters." 
Their  minute  detail  can  be  studied  to  greater  advan- 
tage here  than  in  the  larger  galleries  with  top-light. 

In  the  first  Cabinet  (219)  we  find  four  examples 
of  Comelis  van  Poelenburg,  with  his  carefully 
drawn,  nude  little  figures.  They  are  bathing  scenes, 
and  an  Expulsion  from  Paradise.  A  little  canvas 
by  Willem  Comelisz.  Duyster,  "  A  Game  of  Back- 
gammon," gives  us  our  first  view  of  the  intimate 
genre  which  is  to  follow.  Two  small  panels  by 
Comelis  Ketel  are  only  enlarged  miniatures.     A 


•QGlalfts  UbrouQb  tbc  Oalledes       353 

"  Shrove  Tuesday "  by  van  de  Venne  is  remark- 
ably replete  with  incident.  Roeland  Savery  shows 
a  poet,  being  crowned  in  the  presence  of  a  number 
of  animals.  A  small  landscape  by  Aert  van  der 
Neer  dates  from  1636,  and  two  church  interiors  of 
delicate  architectural  drawing  are  by  Saenredam. 

In  Cabinet  218  we  find  our  first  view  of  Gerard 
Terborch  in  three  little  portraits.  Moreelse  de- 
parted for  once  from  his  serious  portraits  to  give 
us  a  charming  little  Shepherdess,  and  on  the  next 
wall  a  little  Princess.  Although  Adriaan  Brouwer 
by  rights  belongs  to  the  Flemish  school  we  find 
here  two  Inn-interiors,  one  a  quiet,  the  other  a 
boisterous  peasant  gathering,  which  must  be  as- 
cribed to  his  early  years  when  he  was  painting  with 
Frans  Hals  in  Haarlem.  Later  he  settled  in  Ant- 
werp, where  he  became  known  as  "  the  Rubens  of 
genre."  A  small  panel,  "  The  Straw-cutters,"  is 
one  of  the  last  pictures  by  Pieter  Potter,  Paul's 
father,  and  by  all  means  his  best.  The  figures  are 
especially  well-drawn,  the  colour  is  beautiful  and 
transparent.  A  little  genre  by  Pieter  de  Bloot  con- 
tains several  figures  in  the  interesting  groupings 
of  a  busy  lawyer's  office.  Of  Comelis  Saftleven 
we  find  a  landscape  with  cattle  and  herdsmen,  and 
next  a  portrait  of  the  preacher  Johan  Uytenbo- 
gaert,  by  Mierevelt.  Two  portraits,  a  man's  and 
a  woman's,  are  by  Pieter  Codde,  who  only  of  late 


254  "C^be  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlant)  (Balleries 

has  been  discovered,  most  of  his  pictures  going  by 
other  names.  Still  another  church-interior,  by 
Saenredam,  brings  us  to  one  of  the  best,  although 
little-known,  marine  painters  of  that  age,  Hendrik 
Dubbels.  It  is  a  river  view  of  charming  execution. 
Cabinet  217  contains  the  most  Rembrandtesque 
work  of  Covert  Flinck,  "  Isaac  Blessing  Jacob " 
(Plate  XIV).  It  is  dated  1638,  Flinck  being  in 
Rembrandt's  studio  from  1635  to  1640.  Several  of 
Rembrandt's  pupils  have  treated  of  this  incident 
(one  by  Jan  Victors  is  in  the  Louvre),  and  Dr. 
Scheltema  plausibly  supposes  that  a  contest  was 
held  at  this  time  in  the  master's  studio  on  this  sub- 
ject. An  entirely  individual  portrait  by  Flinck  is 
one  of  Uytenbogaert,  and  is  superior  to  the  one 
by  Mierevelt,  which  we  saw  in  the  last  cabinet. 
It  is  one  of  the  finest  of  Flinck's  smaller  panels. 
A  bust-portrait  of  a  man,  by  Thomas  de  Keyzer, 
hangs  next  to  a  small  panel  by  Gerbrandt  van  den 
Eeckhout,  who  has  the  biblical  subject  of  the 
woman  taken  in  adultery.  The  composition  was 
apparently  inspired  by  Rembrandt's  version,  now 
in  the  National  Callery  in  London.  The  heads  of 
the  various  persons  are  full  of  character,  and  the 
expression  is  at  once  powerful  and  spiritual.  Ben- 
jamin Cuyp's  "  Joseph  explaining  his  Dreams  in 
Prison  "  has  a  faulty  adjustment  of  colour,  but  a 
well-balanced  chiaroscuro.     A  half-length  portrait 


XRIlalfts  zrbrougb  tbc  (Ballcrles       255 

of  Abraham  de  Notte  is  by  Karel  Fabricius,  of 
whom  we  see  also  a  Httle  further  on  "  Herodias 
receiving  the  Head  of  John  the  Baptist."  Two 
Berchems  show  a  drove  of  oxen  passing  a  ford,  and 
a  most  natural  arrangement  of  three  troops  of  cat- 
tle in  a  landscape.  Between  these  we  must  note 
"  The  Drawbridge,"  by  Jan  van  der  Heyden,  full 
of  plein  air.  Its  pendant,  "  The  Stone  Bridge," 
hangs  next,  in  which  the  figures  were  painted  by 
Adriaen  van  de  Velde,  who  with  remarkable  tact 
subjected  his  part  to  the  general  effect  of  the  land- 
scape by  his  fellow-artist.  "  A  Peasant-Inn,"  by 
Izaak  van  Ostade,  has  the  charm  of  the  outdoor 
life  he  favoured,  as  his  brother  Adriaen  devoted 
himself  more  to  interiors. 

Cabinet  216  opens  with  a  cattle  piece  by  Paulus 
Potter,  which  is  in  his  best  vein;  a  replica  of  this 
subject  hangs  in  the  Duke  of  Bedford  collection. 
The  explosion  of  the  powder  magazine  at  Delft 
in  1654,  where  Karel  Fabricius  lost  his  life,  is  pic- 
tured by  Egbert  van  der  Poel,  with  its  fiery  glare 
and  fleeing  figures.  But  our  thoughts  are  at  once 
withdrawn  from  any  reflections  of  sadness  by  that 
"  Jolly  Man  "  of  Frans  Hals,  one  of  his  little  mas- 
terpieces in  lighter  vein.  "  This  wild  spark,"  writes 
Vosmaer,  "  dwells  at  present  in  the  Ryks  Museum 
at  Amsterdam.  During  his  lifetime  his  abode  was 
not  so  elegant,  but  nevertheless  he  led  a  merry  life; 


256  Ubc  Srt  of  tbe  "ttetberlan^  (Balleriea 

and  here,  with  his  big  hat  on  the  back  of  his  head, 
he  laughs  the  boisterous  laugh  of  the  wanton,  unre- 
strained spendthrift.  Thick-tongued,  he  sings  and 
laughs,  gesticulating  meanwhile  with  his  right 
hand: — 

"  I  have  emptied  three  flagons  of  wine, 
Every  one  of  them  filled  to  the  brim  !  " 

The  execution  of  this  picture  is  marvellous.  The 
colours  are  splashed  on  without  mixing,  light  and 
shadows  are  indicated  by  the  same  happy-go-lucky- 
dabs,  but  with  wonderful  sureness. 

Of  Philip  Wouwerman  we  have  a  "  Peasant 
Fight,"  and  by  Thomas  Wyck  the  "  Interior  of  a 
Farmhouse,"  both  characteristic  of  these  men. 
The  elder  brother  of  Frans  Hals,  Dirk  by  name, 
one  of  the  best  early  genre  painters,  is  represented 
here  with  one  of  his  animated  social  gatherings, 
a  picnic,  which  compares  favourably  with  the  pic- 
ture now  in  the  Vienna  Academy,  which  is  consid- 
ered his  masterpiece.  His  works  are  exceedingly 
rare,  only  a  few  being  in  private  collections.  En- 
tirely in  Frans  Hals'  spirit  is  that  laughing 
"  Drinker,"  by  Judith  Leyster,  another  artist  of 
whom  unfortunately  very  little  has  been  left  to 
posterity.  A  portrait  by  de  Keyzer  is  supposed  to 
represent  Admiral  Piet  Hein,  the  dare-devil  sailor 
of  the  early  Dutch  navy,  who  with  only  a  few  ships 


Malfes  XTbrougb  tbe  Galleries       257 

captured  in  1628  the  entire  Spanish  fleet,  laden 
with  Mexican  silver,  whereby  he  broug-ht  eleven 
millions  of  guilders  to  the  coffers  of  the  West- 
Indian  Trading  Company,  in  whose  service  he  was. 
A  painter  of  city  views  and  marines,  Jan  Beer- 
straten,  of  whom  little  is  known,  has  a  winter  view 
of  the  harbourside  of  Amsterdam;  and  of  Jakob 
A.  Duck  we  find  a  well-authenticated  little  genre, 
**  The  Wine-provers." 

In  the  next  Cabinet  (215)  Beerstraten  shows  a 
more  important  view  of  the  ruins  of  the  Amster- 
dam Town  Hall  after  the  fire  of  1652.  Next  to 
this  hang  two  portraits  by  Frans  Hals,  of  Lukas 
de  Clercq  and  of  his  wife  Feyna  van  Steenkiste; 
also  a  fine  kitchen  of  a  farmhouse  by  van  der  Poel. 

Recently  there  was  added  to  the  Ryks  Museum 
collection  an  example  of  Jan  Vermeer  van  Delft, 
"The  Kitchen  Maid"  (Plate  XXV).  This  can- 
vas, measuring  26x163^  inches  is  a  wonderful 
performance,  in  which  the  artist's  passion  finds 
expression  in  the  tin  cup,  the  tankard,  the  milk 
flowing  from  the  can,  the  bread  basket,  as  well  as 
in  the  head  and  arm  of  the  figure  —  all  under  a 
wealth  of  light  that  harmonizes  the  most  diverging 
colours.  This  masterpiece  was  for  long  in  the  Six 
Collection,  but  was  acquired  last  year  by  the  Gov- 
ernment for  over  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
As  a  curiosity  I  may  add  that  in   1696,  twenty 


2s8  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  ■Wetberlan&  6allcriC3 

years  after  the  artist's  death,  it  sold  at  an  auction 
for  seventy  dollars,  and  that  it  came  into  the  Six 
Collection  a  hundred  years  ago  for  eight  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  the  large  Entrance  Hall, 
which  we  traverse  to  view  the  Westerly  Cabinets, 
and  in  274  we  find  several  small  pieces  of  great 
interest.  A  portrait  by  Covert  Flinck,  and  two  by 
Gerard  Terborch  bring  us  to  two  little  jewels  by 
Cabriel  Metsu,  that  are  very  characteristic  exam- 
ples of  his  art.  "  The  Old  Toper  "  is  wonderful 
in  his  blissful  expression  of  utter  contentment. 
The  little  panel  measures  only  nine  inches  high  by 
eight  inches  wide,  and  is  an  exquisite  achievement 
of  painting  such  largeness  of  feeling  on  such  a 
small  scale.  The  background  of  pearly  gray  is  in 
delicate  harmony  with  the  other  colours  of  this  lit- 
tle gem.  "  The  Old  Woman  Reading  "  is  consid- 
ered by  Dr.  Bredius  "  the  masterpiece  of  Metsu's 
pictures  of  a  single  figure."  He  says :  "  With 
what  consummate  art  the  head  and  hands  of  this 
old  woman,  probably  the  painter's  mother,  are 
modelled !  what  truth  of  expression  in  the  ven- 
erable face!  It  is  certainly  one  of  Metsu'  last 
works,  and  one  of  those  in  which  Rembra:  t's  in- 
fluence is  most  apparent." 

Two  other  gems  hang  next :  Gerard  Dou's 
"  Hermit,"    one   of   his   typical   little  heads,    and 


•Ddalfts  XTbrouab  tbe  ©allerfes       259 

Adriaen  van  Ostade's  "  The  Jolly  Peasant."  An- 
other marine  painter  of  the  time  is  Reinier  Nooms, 
called  Zeeman,  who  gives  a  view  of  the  Y  before 
Amsterdam,  and  then  we  stand  before  a  real  Dutch 
wood-scene  by  J.  Hackaert,  the  "  Lane  of  Ash- 
trees "  (Plate  XIX),  a  row  of  magnificent  trees 
along  a  clear,  mirror-like  stream.  This  has  a  won- 
derful aerial  perspective,  with  pure  light  and  unri- 
valled outdoor  feeling.  The  figures  were  put  in  by 
Adriaen  van  de  Velde,  A  very  small  Paul  Potter, 
"  A  Shepherd's  Cabin,"  hangs  next  to  two  panels 
by  Arie  de  Vois,  who  belongs  to  the  school  of  Dou 
and  van  Mieris.  They  are  jolly  types,  this  musician 
and  this  fisherman.  Several  small  pictures  follow : 
Jan  Steen's  "  Kitchen  Maid."  a  "  Village  near  a 
River  "  by  Saftleven,  and  two  interiors  by  Bre- 
kelenkam. 

In  Cabinet  273  we  find  one  of  the  white  horses, 
which  are  always  in  Wouwerman's  compositions. 
This  is  one  of  his  most  precious  panels.  Two  men 
with  Italian  tendencies.  Both  and  Lingelbach,  are 
represented,  and  then  a  portrait  by  Caspar  Netscher, 
the  German  who  in  early  life  settled  in  Holland  and 
became  one  of  the  Little  Masters.  It  has,  however, 
not  the  finesse  of  Terborch's  "  Paternal  Advice " 
(Plate  XVIII),  which  is  one  of  his  best  genres. 
This  little  panel,  of  which  replicas  with  slight  vari- 
ations are  found  in  Berlin  and  in  the  Bridgewater 


26o  Ube  art  of  tbe  •fletberlan&  ©allertes 

Gallery,  is  burdened  with  a  romantic  title,  given 
it  by  the  engraver  who  reproduced  it.  Dr.  Bredius 
suggests  "  The  Visit "  to  be  a  more  appropriate 
title  to  the  subject.  The  visitor,  then,  is  surely 
expressive  enough,  as  the  young  lady  with  her  back 
turned  to  us  is  listening,  while  her  elderly  vis-a-vis 
is  sipping  her  wine.  One  of  Terborch's  most  stri- 
king characteristics,  the  wonderful  expressiveness 
with  which  he  paints  the  hands,  is  here  plainly 
marked.  The  drawing  is  skilful,  and  the  harmony 
of  the  colours  tranquil. 

Aert  van  der  Neer's  "  Winter  Landscape  "  is  too 
small  to  appreciate  fully  his  masterful  manner. 
One  of  Jan  Steen's  most  popular  paintings  follows : 
"  Het  Sint  Nicolaas  Feest  "  (Plate  XXVI).  This 
festival  is  observed  in  Holland,  in  honour  of  the 
Patron  Saint  of  Amsterdam,  much  in  the  way  that 
Christmas  day  is  observed  elsewhere,  except  that 
the  gifts  which  are  exchanged  are  always  disguised 
in  surprise  packages.  The  children  place  their 
shoes  under  the  chimney,  through  which  Sinter 
Klaas  is  supposed  to  descend,  and  if  they  have  been 
well-behaved  the  shoes  are  found  filled  with  cakes 
and  toys,  but  if  they  have  been  unruly  a  small 
besom,  such  as  the  chimney-sweeps  use,  is  their 
share.  The  scene,  supposed  to  be  in  the  painter's 
own  home,  pictures  the  joys  and  chagrin  when  the 
awards  are  bestowed.     Nowhere  do  we  find  Jan 


IKIlalfts  XTbrouab  tbe  Galleries       261 

Steen's  skill  as  a  technician  and  his  power  of  ren- 
dering expression  more  admirably  exemplified  than 
here.  It  has  beautiful,  harmonious  colouring,  with 
a  general  tone  of  golden  brown.  A  little  further 
is  hung  his  equally  fine  "  Parrot  Cage,"  with  vari- 
ous figures,  of  which  the  young  woman  reaching 
up  to  the  parrot  shows  that,  with  all  of  Steen's 
partiality  for  the  coarse  and  grotesque,  he  was  also 
able  to  give  a  perfect  drawing  of  a  graceful  pose, 
with  strong  and  firm  modelling.  While  the  light 
centres  on  this  central  figure,  it  is  graded  beauti- 
fully towards  the  corners,  where  on  the  one  side 
a  woman  is  cooking  and  a  boy  is  eating  oysters, 
and  on  the  other  three  men  are  playing  tric-trac. 
The  colour  is  as  rich  as  of  any  of  the  Venetians. 
We  also  find  here  his  "  Jolly  Return,"  more  broadly 
painted,  and  the  portrait  of  "  Oostward,  the  Baker, 
with  his  Wife,"  with  beautiful  texture  painting. 
Wouwerman's  "  The  Farrier,"  Berchem's  "  Winter 
Landscape,"  and  van  de  Velde's  "  Marine "  are 
characteristic. 

Cabinet  272  contains  a  number  of  masterpieces. 
It  opens  with  "  The  Reader,"  by  Quiryn  Brekelen- 
kam,  a  painter  of  exquisite  finish.  The  two  figures 
in  this  small  panel  are  masterful.  Two  examples 
of  Jan  Steen,  "  The  Village  Wedding  "  and  "  The 
Charlatan,"  show  him  at  his  best  as  the  poet-painter 
of  boisterous  comedy.    One  of  the  later  period  pic- 


262  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  •Retberlan&  Galleries 

tures  of  Adriaen  van  Ostade  is  his  "  Resting  Trav- 
ellers," one  of  his  best  works,  with  a  cool  gray 
tone.  Of  earlier  date,  and  more  Rembrandtesque 
is  his  "  Painter's  Studio,"  which  Burger  and  Smith 
think  shows  the  painter  himself,  while  Bredius 
claims  that  it  represents  his  brother  Izaak.  This 
subject  he  treated  somewhat  similarly  in  a  panel 
that  hangs  in  Dresden,  which  cannot  be  compared 
with  this  picture  in  wonderful  luminosity. 

One  of  the  last  of  the  17th  century  genre  paint- 
ers was  Cornells  Dusart,  of  whom  we  see  "  The 
Wandering  Musicians,"  and  still  better  "  The  Vil- 
lage Inn."  Jacob  van  Ruisdael's  "  Castle  of  Ben- 
theim  "  is  a  splendid  production.  Pieter  van  der 
Werff's  "  Saint  Jerome "  indicates  the  gradual 
weakening  of  the  golden  school.  Wouwerman's 
"  Deer  Hunt "  is  of  passing  interest.  Jan  van  der 
Heyden's  city  view  of  "  The  Dam,"  the  principal 
square  in  Amsterdam,  is  of  greater  importance. 
Gabriel  Metsu's  "  The  Breakfast "  has  been  much 
restored,  and  has  lost  considerable  of  the  master's 
fine  touch ;  but  the  "  Trumpeter  on  Horseback," 
by  Karel  du  Jardin,  is  worthy  of  this  artist's  rep- 
utation. A  "  Church  Interior,"  by  the  little-known 
Gerard  Houckgeest,  has  some  good  qualities.  A 
Lady  receiving  a  Letter,"  by  Jan  Vermeer  van 
Delft,  is  again  one  of  the  prizes.  While  not  so 
famous  as  some  others  of  his  works,  it  is  still  in- 


Malfts  UbrouQb  tbe  Galleries        263 

tensely  characteristic.  In  a  room  in  the  middle- 
distance  a  lady  is  seated  near  the  chimney-piece, 
her  mandolin-playing  being  interrupted  by  a  serv- 
ant who  has  handed  her  a  letter.  On  the  back  wall 
two  paintings  are  hung,  while  the  foreground 
shows  an  alcove  through  the  door  of  which  we 
view  the  two  women  in  the  full  light  that  must  fall 
from  a  side-window.  The  texture  of  the  garments 
of  these  women,  the  skilful  treatment  of  the  light- 
ing, and  the  beautiful,  mellow  harmony  of  colours 
render  this  panel  very  precious. 

Philip  Wouwerman's  "  The  White  Horse ;  "  a 
"  Farmyard,"  by  Johannes  Both ;  and  two  outdoor 
scenes  by  Jan  Wynants,  bring  us  to  another  A.  van 
Ostade,  the  "Herring  Seller;"  and  then  comes 
"The  Cellar-room"  or  "Buttery,"  by  Pieter  de 
Hooch  (Plate  XXHI),  the  most  luminous  and 
pleasing  of  his  earlier  works.  It  is  sunny  in  the 
way  that  he  always  painted  his  interiors,  the  light 
streaming  into  a  room  beyond.  There  is  great 
charm  and  gentleness  in  the  action  of  the  smiling 
servant,  handing  a  jug  to  the  four  year  old  little 
lady  to  sip.  After  a  "  Sandy  Road,"  by  Jacob 
van  Ruisdael,  and  "  Dead  Poultry,"  by  d'Honde- 
coeter,  we  notice  an  interior  by  Metsu,  and  a  coast 
scene  by  Willem  van  de  Velde. 

Cabinet  271  contains  different  examples  by  men 
whom  we  have  already  observed,  but  we  must  not 


264  "^be  Hrt  of  tbe  •RetbcrIan^  (Balleries 

pass  by  a  Dutch  city-canal,  by  J.  van  der  Heyden, 
the  best  city  view  painter  of  the  period,  the  Gerard 
Dou  of  this  genre.  We  see  for  the  first  time  a 
fruit  piece  of  the  excellent  still  life  painter  J.  D. 
de  Heem ;  also  two  by  his  pupil  Abraham  Mignon, 
and  two  or  three  by  Jan  van  Huysum,  one  of  the 
last  painters  of  that  century.  We  find  also  in  this 
cabinet  a  very  small  oval  portrait  bust  of  the  poet 
Constantyn  Huygens,  by  Caspar  Netscher,  whose 
"  Mother's  Cares,"  one  of  his  best  pictures,  hangs 
near;  also  two  little  panels  by  van  Slingeland,  of 
miniature  execution,  of  which  "  A  Family  Musi- 
cale  "  is  of  his  first  period,  showing  some  weakness 
in  the  drawing  of  the  figures,  but  exquisite  in  de- 
tails. 

Of  especial  interest  are  two  Gerard  Dous.  "  The 
Curious  One "  shows  a  young  girl,  leaning  out 
of  a  window,  with  a  lighted  lamp  in  her  hand.  The 
"  Evening  School  "  is,  however,  of  greater  interest, 
because  of  the  difference  of  opinion  it  has  created 
among  connoisseurs.  Some  claim  it  to  be  one  of 
his  most  famous  works,  excelling  in  its  minute 
details  and  its  remarkable  management  of  the  light 
effect,  the  school-room  being  illuminated  by  five 
candles.  Others  decry  this  tour-de- force,  and  de- 
plore a  lack  of  spontaneity  in  the  ingenious  com- 
bination of  these  various  light  spots.  While  this 
little  picture   shows   a   surmounting   of   the   most 


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CHURCH   INTERIOR 

Plate    XXXIV 
{See   page  egi) 


Municipal  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Malfts  Ubrouab  tbe  (Balleries        265 

difficult  light  problems,  it  may  not  be  considered 
the  highest  ideal  of  art,  for  the  obstacles  are  ap- 
parently sought  to  display  ingenuity,  whereas  the 
best  art  is  simple,  unstudied  for  effect.  In  this 
cabinet  are  also  found  three  examples  by  the  last 
painter  of  the  17th  century  school,  Adriaen  van  der 
Werff,  in  whose  wferk  the  decadence  and  final  de- 
composition of  that  glorious  art  may  be  recognized. 

In  Cabinet  270  is  a  very  fine  view  of  a  Regatta 
by  Johannes  van  de  Cappelle,  of  whom  little  is 
known;  a  Fish-market,  by  Dusart;  a  Poultry-ped- 
dler, by  Willem  van  Mieris;  a  Turbulent  Sea,  by 
W.  van  de  Velde;  and  an  Italian  Landscape,  by 
Hackaert. 

We  have  now  come  to  Room  268,  called  the  Pa- 
vilion Room,  in  the  corner  of  the  building,  which 
is  divided  by  screens  into  three  parts.  In  the  first 
division  are  found  the  self-portraits  of  different 
artists  of  the  Dutch  school,  and  also  a  portrait  of 
the  sculptor  Quellinus  by  Ferdinand  Bol,  and  the 
officers  of  the  St.  Lukas  Guild  of  Haarlem,  by  Dirk 
de  Bray. 

The  second  division  contains  a  number  of  paint- 
ings of  the  1 8th  century  Dutch  artists,  which  are  of 
no  interest,  and  a  sad  commentary  on  the  disinte- 
gration of  the  native  school  by  foreign  imitation. 
The  third  division  contains  a  collection  of  family 
portraits,  donated  by  Jonkheer  J.  S.  R.  van  de  Poll, 


266  Ubc  art  ot  tbc  'Hetberlan&  Oallerica 

with  Frans  Hals,  Mierevelt,  van  der  Heist,  and 
Jurriaen  Ovens  among  the  artists  of  note;  and 
also  a  number  of  portraits  of  the  family  van  Cit- 
ters. 

We  hasten  to  the  "  Van  der  Hoop  "  Zaal  (269), 
to  which  the  collection  formerly  in  the  Museum 
van  der  Hoop  has  been  transferred.  It  contains 
several  masterpieces  of  the  17th  century,  while  also 
a  few  important  Flemish  are  found  here. 

Beginning  on  the  left,  with  the  North  wall,  we 
find  the  first  study  for  the  famous  painting  of 
Helena  Fourment,  by  Rubens,  which  hangs  in  the 
Pinakothec  in  Munich.  It  is  thinly  painted,  some- 
what dry,  and  without  the  master's  usual  brilliancy. 
With  van  Dyck's  bust  portrait  of  Joh.  Bapt. 
Franck,  and  an  interesting  little  Teniers,  "  The 
Dice-Throwers,"  we  may  leave  the  Flemish  and 
return  to  the  Dutch. 

"  The  Spinster,"  by  Nicolaas  Maes,  is  a  gem, 
smaller  than  the  one  in  the  Dupper  Room,  but  of 
equal  beauty.  And  old  woman,  in  black  dress  with 
red  sleeves  (Maes'  own  red),  white  scarf  and  black 
bonnet,  with  spectacles  on,  is  seated  cheerfully  at 
work  at  her  spinning-wheel.  The  picture  has  a 
warm,  clear  colour,  sure  and  strong  handling,  and 
is  a  brilliant  piece  of  artistry.  No  less  than  five 
examples  of  Jan  Steen  hang  on  this  wall,  of  which 
we    see    here    two    small    genres,    "  A    Drinking 


TWlalfts  XTbrouob  tbe  (Balledes       267 

Couple"  and  a  "Jolly  Family;"  the  others  come 
later.  We  view  first  some  landscapes,  a  pleasing 
one  by  Aert  van  der  Neer,  and  then  one  of  the 
smallest  compositions  by  Meindert  Hobbema.  This 
is  only  five  by  twelve  inches,  but  large  in  concep- 
tion. The  shivering  reflection  of  the  trees  in  the 
water  is  of  exquisite  transparency.  A  larger  can- 
vas (23x33)  gives  us  a  profound  impression  of 
this  master  of  landscape  art.  It  is  Hobbema's 
"  Water  Mill,"  of  which  a  replica  with  slight  vari- 
ations is  also  one  of  the  gems  of  the  Wallace  Col- 
lection at  Hertford  House,  while  there  is  great 
similarity  with  the  Dupper  "  Water  Mill,"  which 
we  will  view  later.  There  is  authority  in  the  relief 
of  the  dark  foliage  against  the  sky,  the  red-tiled 
cottage  of  which  the  mill  forms  a  part,  the  peasant, 
the  woman  washing  the  linen,  the  transparent  water 
falling  from  the  wheelboards  —  it  all  "  hangs  to- 
gether "  so  completely  that  we  recognize  that  the 
artist  did  not  analyze  nature,  but  gave  a  synthesis, 
a  resume  of  what  he  saw.  It  is  a  sustained  thought, 
expressed  in  the  most  forceful  language.  Two  ma- 
rines by  Abraham  Storck  hang  here  close  together. 
"  The  Hunter's  Gift  "  is  one  of  the  refined  social 
genres  of  G.  Metsu.  "  Grace  before  Meat  "  is  of 
the  last  period  of  Jan  Miense  Molenaer's  brush. 
Gerrit  Berckheyde's  "  View  of  the  Dam  "  in  Am- 
sterdam used  to  be  ascribed  to  Storck,  for  some 
unexplainable  reason. 


a68  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  1Retberlan&  (Balleries 

After  Mierevelt's  portrait  of  the  poet  Jacob  Cats 
we  come  to  another  masterpiece  by  Vermeer  van 
Delft,  "  A  Young  Woman  Reading  a  Letter."  It 
is  one  of  his  delightful,  simple  subjects,  with  a 
cool,  tender  tone  of  colouring,  and  the  peculiar  blu- 
ish atmospheric  effect  that  is  so  characteristic  of 
Vermeer's  work.  Near  by  hangs  a  masterpiece  by 
de  Hooch,  and  further  on  two  others.  Let  us 
notice  these.  First  we  have  an  "  Interior,"  in  which 
a  young  mother  is  seated,  holding  her  babe,  the 
cradle  standing  near.  An  open  door  gives  view  on 
the  street,  producing  the  usual  light  effect.  His 
"  Country  House "  is  one  of  his  ie\v  outdoor 
scenes,  which  nevertheless  obtains  the  striking  light 
peculiar  to  the  artist.  Here  the  sun  is  of  blinding 
brilliancy,  and  the  air  vibrates  and  shimmers  with 
light.  De  Hooch  was  an  historian  who  never  ma- 
ligned his  fellow-citizens  by  showing  them  in  low 
tavern  scenes.  They  are  commonplace,  if  you 
please,  but  always  engrossed  in  the  joy  of  domes- 
ticity. His  "  Messenger  "  is  again  an  interior,  the 
open  door  showing  the  gracht,  or  canal  running  in 
the  centre  of  the  street.  The  little  girl  under  the 
tree  just  catches  the  brilliant  sunlight  which  illu- 
minates the  fronts  of  the  houses  in  the  background. 
The  young  lady  who  receives  the  messenger  is 
seated  in  full  light  at  the  window,  while  the  shad- 
ows in  the  room  are  cleverly  managed.    It  is  a  mas- 


Malhs  Ubrougb  tbe  (Ballertes       269 

terpiece  of  juxtaposition  of  light  and  shade.  We 
return  to  a  Gerard  Dou,  "  The  Fisherwoman,"  of 
unusual  breadth  of  treatment,  and  then  we  stand 
before  that  noble  work,  one  of  the  last  Rembrandt 
painted,  called  "The  Jewish  Bride"  (Plate  X). 
Brcdius  imagines  this  to  be  a  representation  of 
Ruth  and  Boaz,  comparing  it  with  Aert  van  Gel- 
der's  work  of  that  title  in  the  Prague  Museum. 
Smith  wishes  it  called  "  Birthday  Congratulations," 
on  account  of  the  disparity  of  age  of  the  two  fig- 
ures, while  Vosmaer  seeks  in  it  similarity  with 
Rembrandt's  painting  in  the  Brunswick  Museum, 
"  Rembrandt  and  his  Family,"  where  the  same  two 
persons  are  shown  with  two  children.  Hence  he 
considers  it  portraits  of  Rembrandt  and  of  Hen- 
drikje  Stoffels.  No  matter  the  name  we  give  this 
painting,  it  is  the  work  of  one  who  has  surmounted 
all  difficulties  of  his  art,  and  takes  liberties  with 
his  technic  such  as  no  artist  has  dared  to  take  be- 
fore him.  It  has  an  extraordinary  prodigality  of 
colour,  with  a  caressing  touch  of  light  and  dark, 
and  a  modelling  of  sentient  humanity.  If  it  was 
Rembrandt's  swan  song,  as  Burger  thought,  who 
dates  the  work  in  the  year  of  the  master's  death, 
it  surely  was  one  of  his  most  melodious. 

A  fine  "  Landscape,"  by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael, 
brings  us  to  three  examples  of  Jan  Steen.  "  The 
Sick    Lady,"    also    called    "The    Doctor's    Visit" 


270  TIbe  art  of  tbe  fletberlan&  (Balleries 

(Plate  XXVII),  is  the  most  celebrated  of  all  Jan 
Steen's  pictures  of  genteel  folk.  While  its  master- 
fulness in  colour,  composition  and  drawing  is 
equalled  by  many  of  his  works,  in  none  he  has  given 
the  subtlety  of  expression  we  find  here.  A  young 
lady  is  seated  in  the  centre  of  her  chamber,  half 
reclining  with  her  head  on  a  pillow  on  a  table  at 
her  side.  She  holds  her  hand  for  the  grave  physi- 
cian, in  professional  black,  to  feel  her  pulse,  but 
there  is  an  enigmatic,  roguish  smile  on  her  lips, 
which  makes  one  wonder  whether  she  is  playing 
'possum,  or  whether  it  is  a  case  of  heart  trouble 
caused  by  love,  which  the  doctor  is  asked  to  regu- 
late. In  distinction  with  the  other  Little  Masters, 
who  sacrificed  expression  to  execution,  we  find  here 
all  subordinate  to  the  character  painting  of  these 
two  figures.  It  is  an  undoubted  masterpiece.  "  The 
Happy  Family  "  and  "  After  the  Drinking  Bout  " 
are  more  in  his  usual  style  of  vivacious  excess. 

A  "  Mother  and  Child,"  by  Brekelenkam,  hangs 
next  to  a  "  Country  Inn,"  by  Izaak  van  Ostade, 
and  two  landscapes  by  Jan  Wynants,  when  we 
come  to  one  of  Ruisdael's  fine  views,  "  The  Rhine 
near  Wyk-by-Duurstede."  This  has  large  feeling, 
an  immense  stretch  of  river,  clear  atmosphere,  and 
a  strong,  dominating  sky,  against  which  a  wind- 
mill is  silhouetted.  Fromentin  calls  it,  "  the  high- 
est expression  of  Ruisdael's  lofty  and  significant 


TIClalfts  Ubrouab  tbe  Galleries         271 

manner."  Two  city  views  of  Amsterdam,  by  Ger- 
rit  Berckheyden,  and  a  figure  piece  by  Hendrik 
Bloemaert,  bring  us  to  the  East  wall,  given  over 
principally  to  portraits. 

The  South  wall  does  not  offer  many  works  of 
interest.  A  few  exceptions  must  be  noted.  Sam- 
uel van  Hoogstraten,  writer  and  painter,  gives  a 
charming  picture  of  a  sick  lady  visited  by  her  phy- 
sician. It  is  of  a  strange,  original  harmony  of  yel- 
lowish, pearl  and  silver  tones.  Further  on  a  couple 
of  friends,  a  man  and  woman,  entertain  each  other 
sociably,  as  depicted  by  Adriaen  van  Ostade.  Adri- 
aen  van  de  Velde  shows  himself  and  his  family 
in  picturesque  outdoor  grouping.  It  is  considered 
the  best  of  the  artist's  works,  and  of  unusual  bril- 
liancy. The  artist,  his  wife  and  their  children  are 
sauntering,  one  beautiful  autumn  evening  in  1667, 
outside  of  Haarlem.  They  have  taken  a  drive,  and 
the  chariot  with  two  white  horses  is  waiting  for 
them  on  the  road  beyond  under  the  care  of  a  serv- 
ant. In  the  distance  are  meadows  with  cattle,  the 
serpentine  Spaarne,  and  a  heavily  shaded  farm- 
house. The  delicacy  of  the  nuances  of  light  and 
colour,  the  exquisite  painting  of  the  figures,  and 
the  amplitude  and  harmony  of  the  composition  give 
full  proof  of  the  height  the  Dutch  school  had 
reached.  A  "  Fishmarket,"  by  H.  M.  Sorgh,  and 
"  Quiet  Water,"  by  Lieve  Verschuier,  are  of  inter- 


272  Ube  art  ot  tbe  •Wetberlan&  Galleries 

est;  also  a  freely  painted  "  Hermit,"  by  Dou,  and 
a  beach  view  by  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  Younger, 
The  "  Interior  of  a  Church,"  by  Enianuel  de  Witte, 
is  a  capital  piece,  where  the  light  plays  hide-and- 
seek,  and  the  figures  are  well  put  in. 

Gallery  263  contains  the  remainder  of  the  van 
der  Hoop  collection.  We  start  with  a  view  of  his 
beloved  Dordrecht,  by  Aelbert  Cuyp.  The  artist 
frequently  painted  his  native  city,  the  best  one  of 
these  views  being  in  the  Holford  Collection  in  Lon- 
don. This  canvas  is  in  the  first  manner  of  the  mas- 
ter, and  is  remarkable  in  that  he  has  used  almost 
colourless  pigments,  with  cold  tintings,  to  depict 
sky,  water,  and  a  city  hidden  in  mist.  One  might 
suppose  a  monochrome  would  be  the  result,  and 
yet  we  find  a  wonderful  harmony,  a  tenderness  of 
feeling  which  is  ravishing.  Adriaen  van  Ostade 
shows  us  a  group  of  villagers  in  friendly  chat  in 
an  inn.  This  picture  is  of  the  average  excellence 
of  the  master,  but  may  here  be  used  to  illustrate 
the  vicissitudes  of  his  popularity.  One  hundred 
years  after  it  was  painted  it  sold  for  1,000  guilders, 
and  ten  years  later,  in  1772,  for  8,800  francs,  but 
its  auction  value  went  down  again  to  only  800 
francs  in  1801.  It  would  be  difficult  to  give  a 
figure  of  its  value  at  the  present  time,  since  the 
master  has  become  duly  recognized.  A  masterly 
Norwegian  landscape  is  by  Allert  van  Everdingen, 


s  5 

s    o 


S:  -J 

to  Ci 


Malfts  Ubrouob  tbc  Galleries        273 

of  whom  we  have  already  passed  three  examples. 
A  rare  example  of  Comelis  Bega  is  his  "  Grace 
before  the  Meal."  Jan  Wynants  has  an  excellent 
landscape,  and  Saenredam  an  interior  of  the  church 
at  Assendelft,  with  figures  by  van  Ostade.  "  The 
Dentist "  and  "  The  Pork-butcher "  are  pendants 
by  Jan  Victors.  The  masterpiece  of  Johannes 
and  Andries  Both  is  a  large  landscape  with  water- 
fall, in  which  artists  are  depicted  painting  from 
nature.  It  is  a  grand  work  with  the  joyousness  and 
freshness  of  outdoors.  A  magnificent  cattle  piece 
by  Aelbert  Cuyp  comes  next.  The  sky  is  superb, 
and  the  golden  tone  of  the  composition  exceedingly 
rich,  A  "  Wooded  Landscape,"  by  Jacob  van 
Ruisdael  (Plate  XX),  is  remarkable  for  its  breadth 
and  transparency;  it  is  very  rich,  very  vigorous, 
and  of  the  highest  order.  All  the  qualities  are 
found  in  this  canvas  that  make  van  Ruisdael  the 
leader  of  landscape  art.  Lingelbach's  "  Return 
from  the  Chase  "  shows  Italian  influence  —  these 
two  pictures  together  oflFering  a  good  opportunity 
to  test  whether  original  invention  is  greater  than 
imitation. 

"  The  Cannon  Shot,"  by  Willem  van  de  Velde, 
the  Younger  (Plate  XXVIII),  attracts  us  here. 
A  majestic  three-decker  fires  a  salute  on  her  return 
home,  for  the  sails  are  coming  down,  while  the 
home-bound  pennant  is  still  flying.    Another  three- 


274  Xlbe  Hrt  of  tbe  1Fletberlan&  Galleries 

master  is  lying  at  anchor  in  the  distance,  and  two 
pinnaces  are  approaching.  The  smoke  of  the  salvo 
as  it  gradually  disappears  in  the  air  is  wonderfully 
rendered,  and  the  sun  reflecting  on  the  white  sails, 
and  the  transparent  wetness  of  the  water  contribute 
to  the  magnificent  effect,  A  "  Portrait  of  a 
Woman,"  by  Frans  Hals,  must  not  be  passed  by; 
nor  that  beautiful  "  Winter  Scene,"  by  Aert  van 
der  Neer. 

We  pass  now  to  the  Dupper  Collection  in  the 
next  gallery  (262),  and  at  once  meet  with  new 
names.  Ludolf  Backhuyzen,  one  of  the  last  of  the 
17th  century  marine  painters,  in  his  "  The  Y  before 
Amsterdam,"  and  a  little  further  on  "  The  Zuider 
Zee,"  gives  splendid  evidence  of  proficiency,  whether 
he  paints  clear  skies  or  troubled  weather.  Next 
hangs  a  "  Hunting  Party,"  by  Dirk  Stoop,  the  only 
museum  example  of  this  artist.  One  of  Jan  Steen's 
most  noted  and  best  works  is  his  "  Prinsjes-dag," 
or  the  birthday  celebration  of  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
It  is  a  motley  gathering,  who  convivially  toast  the 
health  of  the  young  Prince.  The  variety  and 
naivete  of  the  characters  is  truthfully  and  charm- 
ingly given.  And  then  we  see  that  smiling 
"  Jester,"  by  Frans  Hals,  which  might  be  consid- 
ered a  pendant  to  his  "  Jolly  Man."  which  we  have 
already  seen.  This  Jester  is  dressed  in  a  fool's  cos- 
tume of  striped  black  and  red,  with  a  yellow  and 


TRUalfts  Ubrougb  tbc  ©allertcs       275 

red  cap,  his  head  saucily  turned  backwards  as  he 
strums  a  guitar  —  the  most  perfect  type  of  a  devil- 
may-care  harum-scarum. 

Two  other  new  names  are  of  Jan  van  Kessel, 
who  offers  a  forest  scene,  and  Willem  de  Heusch, 
with  two  ItaHan  landscapes ;  which  bring  us  to  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  typical  of  van  Goyen's 
river  views.  It  is  one  of  the  Maas^  near  Dordrecht, 
of  soft  grayish  tonality,  and  luminous  sky.  Lingel- 
bach  and  Sorgh  and  Hackaert  have  each  exam- 
ples, and  also  Frans  van  Mieris,  one  of  whose 
little  panels  shows  an  exquisitely  drawn  young 
woman  in  white  satin  studying  the  transitoriness 
of  life  before  a  human  skull.  A  group  of  a  half 
dozen  pictures  attracts  us  further.  Two  oval  pend- 
ants are  by  Terborch,  and  show  us  the  painter  and 
his  wife.  By  Adriaen  van  Ostade  we  have  one  of 
his  small  figures,  "  The  Baker ;  "  and  a  "  Winter 
View,"  by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael,  is  unusual.  "  The 
Water  Mill,"  by  Hobbema  (Plate  XXI),  is  fully 
as  important  as  the  one  we  saw  in  the  van  der  Hoop 
collection.  It  is  somewhat  freer  painted,  and  has 
a  fine  bluish  gray  sheen  over  the  trees.  All  that 
has  been  said  about  the  former  picture  applies  even 
with  greater  force  to  this  one.  Aelbert  Cuyp's 
mountainous  landscape  contains  the  cattle  he  loved 
to  paint,  while  the  setting  sim  gilds  the  scene. 
"  The  Halt,"  by  Salomo  van  Ruysdael,  shows  the 


276  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  flctberlant)  (Balleries 

difference  of  his  art  with  that  of  his  more  famous 
nephew.  Pictures  by  A.  Pynacker,  Thomas  Wyck, 
Brakenburgh,  Verboom,  all  new  men,  and  of  others 
whom  we  have  studied  before,  are  mildly  interest- 
ing, and  then  we  come  to  another  group  of  master- 
pieces. 

Resting  on  a  window-sill,  smoking  his  pipe,  Ge- 
rard Dou  gives  us  a  portrait  of  himself  that  is  in  his 
best  manner.  The  blue  curtain  hanging  from  a  rod, 
and  a  darkened  room  behind  the  figure,  show  us 
the  favourite  composition  of  the  artist  to  frame  his 
little  figures  on  the  panel  itself.  Adriaen  van  Os- 
tade's  "  The  Charlatan  "  presents  one  of  his  amus- 
ing country  scenes,  and  next  to  this  hangs  "  The 
Spinster,"  by  Nicolaas  Maes.  Larger  than  the  one 
in  the  van  der  Hoop  collection,  it  is  painted  some- 
what broader,  but  does  not  lose  in  any  respect  the 
intimate  character  of  the  smaller  picture.  Two  of 
Jan  Steen's  satires  on  men  and  morals  are  called 
"  The  Quack  "  and  "  The  Libertine."  The  gulli- 
bility of  the  peasant,  and  the  misery  of  the  drunken 
sot  who  has  his  pockets  picked,  are  amusingly  por- 
trayed. The  drawing  may  be  a  little  careless,  still 
the  scenes  are  emphatically  in  his  humourous  vein. 
A  "  View  of  Haarlem,"  by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael, 
with  a  clouded  sky,  is  wholly  admirable. 

We  enter  now  Gallery  261,  where  we  find  the 
vail  de  Poll  Collection  with  some  surprises  still 


Malfts  XTbrouGb  tbe  Galleries       277 

awaiting  us.  Most  of  the  paintings  are  by  the  men 
of  the  17th  century  school,  whose  work  we  have 
already  studied.  Their  examples  here  amplify 
what  we  learned  of  them.  It  will,  therefore,  only 
be  necessary  to  single  out  the  gems  of  the  collec- 
tion, and  foremost  among  these  stands  Rembrandt's 
finest  painting  of  old  age,  the  "  Portrait  of  Elisa- 
beth Bas,  Widow  of  Admiral  Jan  Hendrik  Swar- 
tenhout."  She  was  between  seventy-two  and  sev- 
enty-five years  old  when  Rembrandt  painted  her. 
The  features  are  patrician  in  character,  even  under 
their  mask  of  wrinkles.  The  quiet  elegance  of  her 
dress,  the  stateliness  of  her  bearing,  the  traits  of 
a  noble  character  stamped  upon  this  human  face 
produce  a  profound  impression.  To  quote  Michel : 
"  The  vigorous  contours,  sharply  defined  against 
the  neutral  background,  the  close,  incisive  drawing, 
the  truth  of  modelling,  the  decision  of  the  accents, 
the  extreme  frankness  of  the  intonations,  even  the 
choice  of  attitude,  all  combine  to  suggest  the  indi- 
viduality of  the  sitter." 

A  fine  equestrian  portrait  of  "  Pieter  Schout, 
Bailiff  of  Hagestein,"  is  from  the  brush  of  Thomas 
de  Keyzer.  Jan  Steen  makes  us  join  the  old  man 
in  laughing  at  the  antics  of  the  children  in  their 
so-called  "  Dance  Lesson."  How  intimately  the 
artist  could  enter  into  child  life  is  well  demonstrated 
here,  as  it  may  be  seen  in  all  his  compositions  in 


278  Zbc  art  ot  tbc  "KetberlanD  Galleries 

which  children  are  introduced.  A  more  important 
Brekelenkam  than  we  have  seen  thus  far  is  his 
"  Confidential  Chat,"  a  delicious  genre.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  Dusart's  "  The  Joy  of  Motherhood," 
which  is  his  best  existing  picture.  Paul  Potter,  in 
his  most  personal  vein,  has  an  excellent  landscape 
with  cattle,  while  of  Cornells  Saftleven  we  find  a 
gathering  of  peasants,  which  is  of  unusual  merit. 
A  number  of  portraits  belong  to  this  collection. 
They  are  by  Bol,  Dou,  Nic.  Elias,  Maes,  Netscher, 
one  by  van  Dyck,  and  one  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence 
of  one  of  the  ancestors  of  the  donor. 

Gallery  260  is  called  the  "  Oranje  Zaal,"  and 
contains  portraits  of  the  Princes  of  the  House  of 
Orange-Nassau,  beginning  with  one  by  Mierevelt 
of  William  the  Silent.  Various  artists  have  pro- 
duced these  portraits,  in  different  sizes,  single  or 
in  groups.  Notable  among  these  is  Covert  Flinck's 
allegorical  portrait  of  Amalia  van  Solms,  as  widow 
of  Prins  Frederik  Hendrik;  and  the  large  canvas 
by  Adriaen  van  de  Venne  (of  doubtful  attribution) 
representing  Prins  Maurits  van  Oranje,  the  King 
of  Bohemia,  and  various  other  persons  on  horse- 
back, surrounded  by  groups  of  courtiers  on  foot. 
This  curious  picture,  with  its  chargers  like  hobby- 
horses, and  its  stiff  alignment,  can  be  hardly  from 
the  brush  of  the  painstaking  and  inventive  author 
of  the  "  Soul  Fishery."    In  the  centre  of  the  room 


TOlalhs  ZTbrouGb  tbe  (Ballcries        279 

we  find  on  a  screen  a  collection  of  miniatures, 
whereof  the  finest  came  from  England,  Among 
these  we  find  the  work  of  Hilliard,  Cooper,  Crosse, 
Hoskins,  and  Peter  Oliver. 

The  Historical  Gallery  (255)  is  divided  by  par- 
titions into  five  parts.  The  first  one  is  a  continua- 
tion of  the  portraits  of  the  Oranje  Zaal.  The  sec- 
ond division  is  devoted  to  portraits  of  Admirals 
and  sea-heroes  of  Dutch  history,  and  pictures  of 
noted  battles.  The  third  division  is  consecrated  to 
Holland's  greatest  sea-fighter,  Admiral  Michiel 
Adriaensz.  de  Ruyter.  It  contains  Ferdinand  Bol's 
fine  portrait  of  the  Admiral,  and  underneath  de 
Witte's  view  of  the  magnificent  tomb  of  the  hero 
in  the  Nieuwe  Kerk  of  Amsterdam.  There  are 
various  portraits  of  his  family  and  of  those  asso- 
ciated with  him,  and  on  the  left  a  large  panorama 
of  the  expedition  to  Chatham  in  1667.  The  fourth 
division  keeps  the  memory  bright  of  Admiral 
Maerten  Harmensz.  Tromp,  the  one  who  sailed 
the  sea  with  a  broom  at  his  masthead.  Portraits 
and  sea-battles  are  by  different  artists,  the  Admi- 
ral's own  by  Jan  Mytens.  The  fifth  division  con- 
tains a  remarkable  collection  of  pen-drawings  by 
Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  Elder,  showing  Tromp's 
sea-battles.  There  are  also  a  few  pictures  refer- 
ring to  the  Dutch  settlement  of  Brazil  under  Joan 
Maurits  van  Nassau. 


28o  Ubc  art  ot  tbe  IRetberlan^  aallertes 

Room  248  is  called  "  The  Old-Dutch  Regents 
Room,"  and  is  furnished  in  replica  of  such  a  room 
of  the  17th  century.  It  forms  a  pendant  to  Room 
236. 

Thus  we  have  again  arrived  at  the  former  Rem- 
brandt Gallery,  which  we  traverse  to  view  the  re- 
maining alcoves  of  the  Gallery  of  Honour. 

In  the  first  one  on  our  left  (E)  hangs  the  only 
example  in  the  Museum  of  Jacob  van  Ochtervelt, 
an  unknown  painter  of  merit  who  lived  during  the 
second  half  of  the  17th  century.  This  canvas  is 
a  group  picture  of  the  Regents  of  the  Lepers'  Hos- 
pital. There  are  two  canvases  by  Bol,  an  allegorical 
painting  on  "  Education,"  and  a  biblical  subject, 
"  Naaman,  the  Syrian."  A  city  view  in  winter  by 
Beerstraten,  an  Italian  landscape  by  Pynacker,  and 
a  view  of  Dordrecht  by  van  Goyen,  are  the  only 
pictures  here,  besides  portraits  by  van  Anraadt,  de 
Baen,  Elias,  and  especially  two  by  van  der  Heist. 

The  second  alcove  (F)  contains  "The  Company 
of  Captain  Jacob  de  Vries,"  called  the  Jewish  Com- 
pany, by  de  Keyzer,  which  shows  the  influence  of 
Frans  Hals.  The  "  Doelen  Heeren,"  a  corporation 
piece  of  four  Syndics,  by  van  der  Heist,  is  far 
superior  to  his  "  Peace  Banquet,"  as  it  contains 
more  of  the  higher  qualities  of  art.  Aelbert  Cuyp's 
"  Fighting  Fowl  "  shows  how  greatly  he  surpassed 
d'Hondecoeter,  even  on  the  latter's  own  ground. 


Malfts  ZbtowQb  tbe  Oalledes        281 

A  turkey-cock  and  a  rooster  are  giving  battle  while 
two  clucking  hens  are  seen  on  the  right.  The  orange 
sky,  the  rich  colour  and  harmony  of  the  plumage, 
are  the  work  of  a  great  master.  A  "  Jolly  Musi- 
cian "  by  Gerard  van  Honthorst,  is  of  interest  be- 
cause it  is  in  the  first  period  of  this  artist,  before 
his  spoliation  by  Italian  manner.  The  "  Storm  on 
the  Coast,"  by  Simon  de  Vlieger,  is  a  good  exam- 
ple of  this  marine  painter. 

In  the  next  alcove  (G)  we  have  as  pidce-de-re- 
sistance  the  famous  canvas  by  Frans  Hals,  on  which 
he  depicts  himself  and  his  second  wife  Lysbeth 
Reniers  (Plate  VI).  The  work  is  truly  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  characteristic  portrait  groups 
extant,  although  the  question  has  been  unnecessarily 
raised  as  to  the  identity  of  the  couple.  There  is  a 
jolly  bond  of  good-fellowship  between  them.  It 
has  even  been  suggested  that  the  idea  of  thus  being 
represented  sitting  together  like  two  sentimental 
lovers  seems  too  much  for  the  gravity  of  Frans 
and  his  wife.  They  certainly  seem  to  be  light- 
hearted  enough,  and  the  careless  attitude  of  the 
artist,  and  the  unstudied  mien  in  which  Lysbeth 
rests  her  hand  on  his  shoulder  have  a  vital  quality. 
As  to  the  matter  of  technic,  it  is  in  the  master's 
strongest  style;  especially  is  the  painting  of  his 
black  dress  superb. 

A  large  militia  piece  of  the  Company  of  Captain 


282  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbc  IRetberlanD  Galleries 


Hooghkamer,  dated  1628,  is  by  Jacob  Lyon,  one 
of  the  earlier  men  of  the  period.  We  must  yet 
notice  a  landscape  by  Filips  Koninck,  with  its  mag- 
nificent sky  of  silvery  clouds  in  two  strata  of  con- 
trasted forms,  and  fleeting  shadows  passing  over 

THE  RYTC>S  MU^SE^UM 

GROUND     FLOOR. 


Print  Cabinct 


J 


CORRIDOR 


'  Orucker  Coll 


the  rich,  warm  landscape.  Also  a  satisfactory  land- 
scape by  Roeland  Roghman  is  to  be  seen. 

The  last  alcove  (H)  contains  little  of  interest. 
Two  of  the  best  d'Hondecoeters,  "  The  Magpie " 
and  "  The  Farm ; "  "  Dead  Game,"  by  Jan  Baptist 
Weenix,  good  enough  to  have  been  formerly  at- 
tributed to  Cuyp;  and  portraits  by  Nic,  Elias,  and 
by  Abraham  van  den  Tempel,  complete  our  review 
of  this  floor,  and  of  the  17th  century  school. 

Descending  the  stairway  towards  the  main  en- 
trance, we  pass  through  the  glass  doors  on  our 


•QXHalfts  Ubrouab  tbe  Galleries       283 

left,  and  enter  a  large  hall  filled  with  ceramics. 
Passing  through  this,  we  come  to  the  "  Print  Cab- 
inet," which  contains  over  125,000  pieces,  giving  a 
complete  survey  of  the  graphic  arts,  most  by  Dutch 
masters.  The  plates  are  kept  in  portfolios,  but 
many  of  the  rarest  are  displayed  in  frames.  At 
the  end  of  this  gallery  we  stand  before  the  entrance 
to  the  South-West  extension  of  the  Museum,  con- 
taining the  paintings  of  the  Modern  Masters,  but 
we  must  first  take  a  look  in  the  large  gallery  on  our 
left,  where  the  "  van  Lynden  "  collection  of  mod- 
ern pictures  is  displayed,  in  which  the  best  19th 
century  masters  of  the  Dutch  and  French  schools 
are  shown. 

The  principal  paintings  hang  along  the  South 
wall  of  this  gallery.  We  find  there  two  character- 
istic examples  of  Diaz,  an  "  Idylle,"  with  its  illu- 
minating colours  and  charming  figures,  and  a 
Flower  piece,  with  all  the  chromatic  wealth  the 
artist  was  able  to  pour  from  his  rich  palette.  Of 
Corot  a  small  pond  in  the  forest  is  of  his  last,  sil- 
very period.  Two  Daubignys  present  him  in  a 
choice  of  subjects.  One  is  a  beautiful  beach  view, 
the  other  an  "  October,"  with  rich  woodland,  and 
full  of  atmosphere.  Three  examples  of  Courbet 
have  also  been  selected  to  show  his  varied  manner, 
a  still  life  of  "  Apples,"  a  wild  scene  of  "  Rocks," 
and  a  view  pf  the  "  Forest  of  Fontainebleau."    An 


284  trbe  Hrt  of  tbe  •fletberlan&  Galleries 

excellent  example  by  Rousseau,  "  Ravine  with 
Wolves,"  an  unusual  "  Beacon  Light,"  by  Troyon, 
and  two  canvases  by  Jules  Dupre,  a  road  over  the 
heath  and  a  forest  view,  indicate  the  representa- 
tive manner  in  which  the  Barbizon  men  are  shown, 
to  which  must  be  added  a  small  genre  by  Decamps, 
"  Looking  for  Truffles."  Of  the  earlier  men  we 
find  a  scriptural  subject  by  Delacroix,  "  Gethsem- 
ane ; "  a  rare  "  Christ  and  his  Apostles,"  by  Dau- 
mier,  better  known  as  a  caricaturist;  and  an  equally 
unusual  biblical  scene  by  Monticelli,  "  Let  the  Chil- 
dren Come  to  Me."  "  Dunkirk,"  by  Vollon,  is  one 
of  his  marines,  not  frequently  met  with;  and  Ziem 
has  an  Oriental  subject  in  "  Moorish  Rowers." 
Two  examples  by  Ribot,  a  small  genre,  "  The 
Seamstress,"  and  a  nature  morte  of  "  Fish,"  indi- 
cate the  versatility  of  this  portrait  painter.  A  small 
genre  by  Couture,  and  two  characteristic  heads  by 
Mettling,  hang  near  an  Algerian  scene  by  Passini, 
and  a  clever,  typical  canvas  by  Mancini,  "  The  Poor 
Child."  Even  Claude  Monet  is  shown  in  a  most 
personal  work,  "  The  Mountain  Path."  One  of  the 
best-known  early  Whistlers,  "  Effie  Eteans,"  from 
Walter  Scott's  "Heart  of  Midlothian,"  is  in  this 
choice  collection  of  foreign  masters. 

Dispersed  among  these  we  find  prominent  exam- 
ples by  the  Dutchmen.  We  must  note  C.  Bisschop, 
"  The  Falconer;  "  Jan  Weissenbruch,  "  View  of  a 


Malfts  Ubrougb  tbe  ©allerics       285 

City;"  a  beautiful  genre,  "Early  to  Church,"  by 
Allebe;  Bosboom's  "Church  Interior;"  W.  Maris, 
"  Pasture  with  Cattle;  "  the  same  subject  by  Anton 
Mauve;  H.  W.  Mesdag,  "Calm  Sea;"  and  two 
characteristic  canvases  by  Jacob  Maris,  "  River 
View  "  and  "  Harbour  View."  Two  earlier  men, 
D.  J.  Bles  with  "  The  Conversation,"  and  J.  A. 
Stroebel  with  "  A  Kitchen,"  complete  a  select  ar- 
ray of  the  modern  Dutch  painters. 

Leaving  this  gallery,  we  enter  the  long  corridor 
of  the  extension.  Most  of  the  paintings  here  are 
by  the  earlier  men,  whose  fine  detail  work  is  suited 
to  the  narrowness  of  the  place.  Among  the  pic- 
tures we  single  out  a  Verboeckhoven,  representing 
horses  attacked  by  wolves ;  C.  Kruseman,  "  Depar- 
ture of  Philip  II  from  the  Netherlands;  "  W.  Ver- 
schuur,  "  Scene  from  the  ten-day  Campaign ;  "  two 
historical  compositions  of  martial  doings  by  J.  W. 
Pieneman,  and  one  by  Nic.  Pieneman.  Ascending 
the  short  stairway,  we  pass  a  few  unimportant  pic- 
tures in  the  vestibule  and  enter  the  long  gallery 
(342)  containing  a  splendid  collection,  loaned  by 
Mr.  J.  C.  J.  Drucker. 

With  a  few  exceptions  these  pictures  are  from 
the  later  men,  a  few  earlier  men  being  also  rep- 
resented. These  are  Bles,  Bakker-Korff,  Klinken- 
berg,  Bilders  and  Mrs.  Bilders-van  Bosse,  Adriana 
Haanen,  and  S.  L.  Verveer.    The  later  and  greater 


286  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Wetberlan^  Galleries 

men  are  worthily  shown.  Joseph  Israels  is  seen  in 
two  portraits,  one  of  the  actor  L.  J.  Veltman,  a 
magnificent  piece  of  portraiture,  and  in  his  well- 
known  "Alone  in  the  World"  (Plate  XXXV). 
This  presents  the  same  story  the  artist  told  in  his 
famous  work  of  the  same  title,  that  created  a  sen- 
sation at  the  Chicago  Exhibition  of  1893.  The 
Amsterdam  version  was  painted  earlier,  A  strong 
and  broadly  painted  "  City  View,"  by  Jacob  Maris, 
hangs  next  to  two  early  examples  of  G.  H.  Breit- 
ner,  "  Rain  and  Wind  "  and  "  Mounted  Artillery 
in  the  Dunes."  Mauve,  Weissenbruch,  Gabriel,  and 
Roelofs  may  be  studied  in  early  and  later  works. 
Artz  has  an  interior,  "  A  Visit  to  Grandmother," 
and  a  view  in  Katwyk  of  the  Orphanage.  Blom- 
mers  and  Neuhuys  show  interiors,  Mesdag  has  two 
beach  views,  and  Jongkind  "  The  Mill."  Sadee, 
Termeulen,  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen,  J.  H.  L.  de 
Haas,  Poggenbeek,  and  Apol  have  landscapes. 
Aug.  Allebe  shows  three  finely  pencilled  genres, 
and  Therese  Schwartze  three  Orphan  girls  in  their 
uniform  dress  of  black  and  red.  All  these  exam- 
ples, either  in  oil  or  water  colour,  are  representative 
of  the  artists.  Hung  among  these  are  a  few  for- 
eign pictures :  a  Vollon,  "  Vase  with  Flowers ;  "  an 
Oise  landscape,  by  Daubigny ;  a  "  Steer,"  by  Bras- 
cassat,  the  forerunner  of  Troyon;  and  by  Alma 
Tadema,  "  The  Egyptian  Widow,"  a  study  of  a 
young  woman. 


TIClalfts  Ubrouab  tbe  Galleries       287 

The  next  room  (344)  is  again  devoted  to  the  men 
of  the  first  half  of  the  last  century.  The  clou  is 
the  immense  historical  painting  by  J.  W.  Pieneman, 
"  The  Battle  of  Waterloo."  This  realistic  pano- 
rama, painted  in  1824,  is  entirely  in  the  classic  style. 
It  impresses  one  with  the  disagreeable  stiffness  of 
arrested  motion,  while  the  colour  is  too  hot  and 
monotonous  to  be  restful.  In  the  middle  of  the 
foreground  stands  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  at  the 
moment  that  the  arrival  of  Blucher  is  reported. 
At  the  left  a  group  is  gathered  around  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  afterwards  King  Willem  II,  who  has 
been  wounded  by  a  bullet  in  the  left  shoulder.  On 
the  right  the  English  General  de  Langey  is  likewise 
wounded.  In  the  background  we  see  Napoleon 
personally  commanding  a  battery  of  artillery  near 
the  farm  Aliance,  while  his  brother  Jerome  an- 
nounces to  him  also  the  arrival  of  the  Prussian 
army.  While  this  painting  for  its  patriotic  spirit 
is  an  exceedingly  popular  canvas,  its  artistic  value 
is  not  great. 

A  painting  by  Otto  Eerelman  commemorates  the 
entrance  of  Queen  Wilhelmina  in  Amsterdam  for 
her  coronation.  Further  we  find  in  this  gallery  por- 
traits by  H.  A.  de  Bloeme,  Nic.  Pieneman,  J.  A. 
Kruseman,  and  C.  H.  Hodges,  as  well  as  Therese 
Schwartze's  portrait  of  the  Boer  General  Piet  Jou- 
bert.     There  are  also  landscapes  in  the  dry,  con- 


3&&  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  fletberlan&  Galleries 

ventional  style  of  the  early  period  by  W.  Verschuur, 
B.  C.  Koekkoek,  Stortenbeker,  Schelfhout,  and  J. 
B.  Tom ;  and  genre  by  Rochussen  and  Greive.  An 
early  Willy  Martens,  a  portrait  group  by  J.  A.  B. 
Stroebel,  city  views  by  H.  ten  Kate  and  C.  Springer, 
and  an  excellent  church  interior  by  Bosboom,  com- 
plete our  review  of  this  room,  and  of  the  Ryks- 
museum. 


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^       ^ 


^5 


CHAPTER   XI 

OTHER  AMSTERDAM   GALLERIES 

The  Municipal  Miiseunt 

The  ground  floor  of  this  modern  and  convenient 
building,  which  stands  back  of  the  Ryksmuseum, 
is  devoted  to  the  display  of  various  products  of 
the  crafts,  especially  furniture  and  ceramics,  ar- 
ranged in  apartments  to  resemble  Dutch  rooms  of 
different  periods.  Ascending-  the  monumental  stair- 
way in  the  centre  of  the  foyer,  we  reach  the  upper 
vestibule,  decorated  with  sculptured  busts  of  emi- 
nent artists,  and  from  which  access  is  had  to  six 
large  galleries  and  four  smaller  cabinets.  Two  of 
the  galleries  are  given  over  to  French  artists,  the 
other  galleries  and  the  cabinets  being  filled  with  the 
works  of  the  19th  century  Dutch  artists.  The 
hanging  of  these  pictures  has  been  done  with  the 
single  aim  of  "  blocking  out "  the  walls  attract- 
ively for  colour  effect,  controlled  by  the  size  and 
shape  of  the  frames;  the  smaller  pictures  and  the 
water  colours  hang  in  the  cabinets.    Hence  we  find 

289 


290  XTbe  art  of  tbe  'Wetbcrlan^  Galleries 

a  work  by  Joseph  Israels  in  every  room,  except  in 
III  and  IV,  devoted  to  the  foreign  artists.  Since, 
however,  the  artists'  names  and  often  the  titles  are 
attached  to  the  frames,  we  need  not  follow  the 
hanging  order,  but  rather  carry  on  our  discussion 
by  grouping  the  works  of  each  painter,  indicating 
in  a  few  cases  of  importance  where  the  painting 
may  be  found. 

There  are  ten  examples  of  Joseph  Israels,  cov- 
ering his  entire  career,  from  an  early  historical 
painting,  "  Margaretha  van  Parma  and  Prins 
Willem  (the  Silent),"  painted  in  Paris  in  1855 
(Room  V),  to  one  of  his  latest  works,  "  David  play- 
ing the  Harp  before  Saul"  (Room  IV).  One  of 
his  most  celebrated  paintings  of  Jewish  types  hangs 
in  Room  II,  "  A  Son  of  the  Ancient  People,"  which 
is  a  perfect  character  study.  In  the  same  room 
is  found  one  of  his  best  rustic  interiors.  A  large 
canvas,  "Passing  Mother's  Grave"  (1856),  in 
Room  V,  shows  the  life-size  figure  of  a  fisherman, 
carrying  his  youngest  in  his  arm,  while  his  other 
child,  with  wistful  looks,  holds  him  by  the  hand. 
It  is  an  intensely  pathetic  scene  of  powerful  artis- 
tic merit. 

Twelve  works  by  Jacob  Maris  are  to  be  seen. 
The  most  important  of  these  is  his  "  Two  Mills  " 
(Plate  XXXVI),  in  Room  II.  In  four  figure 
pieces  he  shows  his  earlier  leaning  towards  genre. 


©tber  amster&am  Galleries         291 

Of  Thys  Maris  four  characteristic  canvases  are 
found,  the  largest  being  one  of  his  "  Little  Brides," 
in  Cabinet  II,  with  its  vague  drawing  and  strangely 
suggestive  power.  Only  two  examples  by  Willem 
Maris  give  sufficiently  the  right  note  of  his  artistry, 
a  sunny  "Summer"  landscape  (Plate  XLIII), 
and  an  "  Early  Morning." 

A  magnificent  Anton  Mauve  is  his  "  Woodcut- 
ters," in  Room  II,  hanging  next  to  his  "  Sheep  in 
the  Dunes"  (Plate  XXXVII),  which  is  a  more 
popular  subject  of  the  master,  but  by  no  means  of 
greater  artistic  importance.  Seven  examples  by 
Johannes  Bosboom  are  found.  With  the  exception 
of  one  panel  showing  the  interior  of  a  farmhouse 
in  Gelderland,  they  are  his  well-known  Church  In- 
teriors, of  impressive  order  and  wonderful  light 
play.  The  one  shown  on  Plate  XXXIV  is  char- 
acteristic. 

H.  W.  Mesdag  is  represented  by  three  marines 
with  Scheveningen  fisher  boats.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  is  a  view  taken  from  the  top  of  the 
dunes  (Plate  XLI).  B.  J.  Blommers  has  an  in- 
terior, and  a  beach  view,  "  The  Little  Shrimpfish- 
ers  "  (Plate  XLV),  with  happy,  healthy,  rollicking 
children  in  the  lapping  waves.  Two  interiors  by 
Albert  Neuhuys  are  characteristic  in  colour  and 
chiaroscuro.  "The  Cradle"  (Plate  XLIV)  being 
the  most  attractive.     His  brother,  J.  H.  Neuhuys, 


292  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  laetberlanD  Galleries 

has  a  view  of  Leyden,  taken  from  the  Haarlem 
canal.  D.  A.  C.  Artz  is  shown  with  a  charming 
episode  of  the  conclusion  of  a  baby's  lullaby  (  Plate 
XLII)  ;  while  the  earlier  C.  Bisschop  has  four  pic- 
turesque Frisian  interiors,  such  as  Plate  XXXIX 
shows,  together  with  a  "  Winter  Landscape." 

The  early  anecdotal  painter  D.  Bles  is  well  rep- 
resented. His  "Holland  Wins"  (Plate  XXX) 
tells  its  own  story  from  the  time  of  the  French 
occupation,  where  the  wiseacre  with  his  Gouda  pipe 
draws  his  own  prophetic  conclusions  from  the  re- 
sult of  the  chessboard  conflict.  The  only  example 
here  of  Bakker-Korff  is  characteristic.  In  "  Vieu 
Pontac  "  (Plate  XXXI)  he  gives  a  humourous  view 
of  his  favoured  old  ladies.  Herman  ten  Kate  has 
a  group  of  soldiers  in  an  inn.  P.  L.  Dubourq  dis- 
plays one  of  his  Italian  lake  scenes,  but  P.  F. 
Greive,  on  the  other  hand,  thoroughly  national 
views  of  Dutch  cities  and  rivers.  Adriana  Haanen 
is  represented  by  flowers,  fruit,  and  vegetables; 
and  Heemskerck  van  Beest  by  a  scene  of  the  old 
Y  before  Amsterdam,  a  troubled  inland  water  with 
excellent  wave  painting.  Louis  Meyer,  another 
early  painter,  has  four  characteristic  examples  of 
rough  water  on  the  coast;  and  Nic.  Pieneman  two 
interiors  of  academic  genre.  Examples  are  also 
seen  of  Henrietta  Ronner,  Klinkenberg,  Mrs.  Roo- 
senboom,    and   of    Sadee    (Rate   XL).     Comelis 


©tber  Hmster^am  (Ballerics         293 

Springer  may  be  studied  exhaustively  in  eight 
paintings  of  city  views,  whereof  his  "  Enkhuizen  " 
(Plate  XXXIII)  pleases  most.  Sal.  Verveer  and 
Jan  Weissenbruch  complete  the  list  of  the  painters 
of  the  first  half  of  the  last  century. 

Dutch  landscape  art  at  its  best  is  shown  by  Roe- 
lofs  (Plate  XXXVIII),  Gabriel,  J.  J.  van  de  Sande 
Bakhuyzen,  Bilders,  Jansen,  Nakken,  Poggenbeek, 
Bastert,  Apol,  du  Chattel  and  de  Bock  (Plate 
XLVI).  A,  J.  der  Kinderen  has  a  huge  canvas, 
"  The  Procession  of  the  Miracle  of  Amsterdam," 
of  great  ambition,  but  little  interest.  J.  B.  Jong- 
kind's  "  Harbour  at  Rotterdam  "  is  more  appeal- 
ing for  its  atmospheric  veracity  and  local  colour. 
The  compositions  by  Therese  Schwartze  are  excep- 
tional, notably  the  "  Lutheran  Confirmation  Class  " 
(Plate  XLVII).  Haverman's  "The  Flight"  is  a 
study  of  the  partly  draped  nude  of  impeccable 
drawing  and  wonderful  vitality.  Alma  Tadema  is 
not  to  be  given  up  to  the  land  of  his  adoption,  but 
is  kept  among  the  Dutchmen  with  an  historical 
painting,  "  Queen  Fredegonda  in  the  Death-cham- 
ber of  St.  Praetextatus  "  —  who  was  the  Bishop 
of  Rouen  and  was  murdered  at  her  instigation  in 
588. 

G.  H.  Breitner  is  shown  here  in  two  of  his  latest 
subjects,  as  well  as  in  an  earlier,  but  beautiful  study 
of  the  nude.     One  of  his  recent  productions  is  a 


294  ^be  art  of  tbe  "HetberlanC)  (Balleries 

view  of  a  "  Gracht "  in  Amsterdam,  but  of  most 
personal  character  is  his  "  Sinking  Piles  for  the 
erection  of  a  House,"  a  composition  of  startling 
energy,  broadly  painted,  and  of  strong  colour  tone. 
Of  the  younger  men  we  must  note  Bauer  in  Orien- 
tal views;  Witsen,  with  one  of  the  out-of-the-way 
nooks  of  old  Amsterdam;  Jan  Veth,  with  a  ster- 
ling portrait  of  Joseph  Israels ;  Jan  van  Essen,  with 
one  of  his  animal  paintings,  a  venerable  looking 
old  "Marabout;"  a  sincere  landscape  by  Gorter; 
and  Kever,  the  painter  of  charming  child  life.  A 
large  number  of  drawings  by  Chas.  Rochussen  and 
by  Bauer  fill  one  of  the  cabinets. 

Most  of  the  foreign  artists  shown  in  Rooms  III 
and  VI  belong  to  the  French  school,  a  few  Bel- 
gian artists  being  also  found  in  Room  III.  Of 
these  we  find  Jan  van  Beers,  "  Burial  of  Charles 
the  Good,  Count  of  Flanders,"  and  genre  pieces  by 
Baron  Leys,  J.  B.  Madou,  and  L.  Gallait.  An  in- 
teresting genre  by  Prud'hon,  "  Les  Plaisiers  de 
I'Amour,"  is  found  in  this  room. 

Room  VI  is  entirely  devoted  to  the  Barbizon 
group,  which  need  no  enumeration,  since  all  the 
members  of  the  Fontainebleau  school  are  repre- 
sented by  one  or  more  of  their  most  characteristic 
productions.  It  is  second  in  importance  to  the 
Mesdag  collection  for  a  study  of  these  masters. 


®tber  Hmster^am  (Balleries         295 

The  Six  Gallery 

This  collection  is  contained  in  the  old  patrician 
mansion  of  Baron  Jan  Six,  a  descendant  of  the 
Amsterdam  Burgomaster  and  patron  of  Rembrandt. 
It  ranks  with  the  famous  private  collections  of  Eu- 
rope, of  the  Duke  of  Westminster,  of  Baron  Chau- 
chard,  and  others. 

The  paintings  are  distributed  in  four  rooms  on 
the  ground  floor  and  in  a  special  gallery  on  the  next 
floor.  They  belong  exclusively  to  the  17th  century 
Dutch  school,  and  are  of  the  first  importance. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  portrait  of  Burgomaster 
Jan  Six,  by  Rembrandt  (Plate  I)  is  a  finer  por- 
trait than  any  ever  painted,  and  at  least  surpassing 
any  portrait  limned  by  the  great  master  himself; 
just  as  his  "  Night  Watch  "  is  his  greatest  genre 
piece.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  certainly  is  a  magnifi- 
cent production  in  its  ravishing  colour  and  marvel- 
lous simplicity.  The  Burgomaster  is  going  out ;  his 
red  cloak  with  gold  embroidery  hangs  over  his  left 
shoulder;  the  large  black  hat  with  broad  brim  sets 
deep  on  the  head,  keeping  almost  the  entire  fore- 
head in  shadow.  He  is  pulling  on  his  glove,  half 
mechanically,  for  his  somewhat  staring  eyes  betray 
his  preoccupied  mind.  Thus  he  stands  there,  almost 
alive,  as  a  man  among  men,  right  in  the  atmosphere 
where  wc  stand,  and  yet  with  a  magnificent  decora- 


296  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  1Retberlan&  (Balleries 

tive  effect.  The  black  of  the  hat,  through  the 
shadow  on  the  forehead,  leads  to  the  firm,  healthy- 
face;  then  from  the  reddish  hair  to  the  red  cloak 
with  the  narrow  white  collar,  and  to  the  gray  coat 
with  some  embroidery  in  gold  and  white,  especially 
in  the  open  sleeves ;  then  the  place  where  the  hands 
and  the  gray  gloves  bring  more  light  —  it  is  all  a 
miracle  of  colour  harmony.  Red  in  itself  is  not 
beautiful,  neither  is  gray,  a  neutral  colour,  but  to- 
gether, with  a  little  gilt,  they  form  here  the  most 
exquisite  combination  in  the  world.  It  is  a  most 
wonderfully  refined  product,  in  which  Rembrandt 
has  summarized  his  gigantic  powers.  Smith  in  his 
Catalogue  Raisonne  dates  the  painting  as  of  1644, 
but  Bode  gives  it,  on  account  of  the  colour  and 
handling,  to  his  later  years,  or  about  1660. 

Alongside  of  this  portrait  even  the  counterfeit 
of  Anna  Wymer,  the  burgomaster's  mother,  painted 
twenty  years  earlier,  must  retire  to  another  rank  — 
it  is  nevertheless  Rembrandt's  finest  woman's  por- 
trait, and  surpasses  the  famous  "  Elisabeth  Bas," 
of  the  Ryksmuseum,  in  the  charm  —  the  Germans 
would  call  it  Gemiithlichkeit  —  of  its  expression. 
The  portrait  of  Doctor  Ephraim  Bueno,  a  Portu- 
guese Jew,  is  the  smallest  painting  by  Rembran'dt, 
being  only  8  inches  in  height.  Notwithstanding  its 
small  size  we  find  the  handling  fat  and  juicy,  while 
the  colour  is  warm  and  rich.     It  is  of  remarkable 


§2 


Cu  Co 


to 

o 
-J 


©tber  amsterDam  aallertes         397 

vitality.  A  sketch  in  brown  and  white  of  a  bib- 
lical subject,  "  Joseph  explaining  his  Dreams,"  is 
of  large  brushing  and  of  ample  expression.  Rem- 
brandt made  one  of  his  best-known  etchings  after 
this  sketch. 

I  will  annotate  first  some  of  the  portraits  found 
here.  They  are  of  varying  importance.  The  Miere- 
velt  portraits  of  William,  the  Silent,  and  of  his 
fourth  wife,  Louise  de  Coligny,  are  not  in  his  best 
manner.  They  are  somewhat  hard,  and  lack  the 
facility  of  execution  and  the  alto-relief,  which  the 
artist  acquired  in  his  later  years,  as  seen  in  his  por- 
trait of  "  Simon  Swaen,"  done  when  the  artist  had 
reached  his  sixty-ninth  year.  Although  an  ugly 
subject,  it  is  exceedingly  attractive  for  its  execution 
—  the  eyes  of  the  old  cavalier  glisten  with  vitality. 
Dr.  Nicolas  Tulp,  of  Rembrandt's  Anatomy  Les- 
son, was  the  father-in-law  of  Jan  Six,  and  four  of 
his  portraits  are  found  here  by  different  artists  — 
by  Cornells  van  der  Voort,  Nicolas  Elias,  Frans 
Hals  and  Jurriaen  Ovens.  The  burgomaster's  son, 
Dirk  Tulp,  is  shown  in  an  equestrian  portrait  by 
Paul  Potter.  Van  Dyck  is  represented  by  two  por- 
traits, of  the  attorney  Caspar  Coverts,  and  of  Ru- 
bens. Replicas  of  these  portraits  are  found  in  Eng- 
land. There  are  also  portraits  by  Jacob  de  Bray, 
Jacob  Cerritsz.  Cuyp,  Dirk  Santvoort,  Michiel  van 
Musscher,  and  by  Cornells  Troost. 


298  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbc  VletberlanD  Oallerles 

The  Six  Gallery  offers  a  revelation  about  a  de- 
partment of  pictorial  art  which  is  often  regarded 
with  but  scant  interest.  Still  life  painting  is  often 
considered  to  be  but  one  step  removed  from  the 
schools.  Yet  there  can  be  nothing  more  satisfying 
to  the  feeling  for  colour  than  to  see  a  couple  of 
oranges  and  lemons  on  a  plate  of  Delft  blue,  or  to 
see  flowers  painted  as  they  are  by  Jan  van  Huysum 
or  Rachel  Ruysch.  The  fruit  piece  by  J.  D.  de 
Heem  is  of  equal  power.  It  may  lack  brilliancy 
of  colour,  yet  it  is  convincing  in  its  warmth  and 
glow,  and  in  its  harmonious  arrangement.  The 
heavy  red  of  the  apple,  the  pale  yellow  of  the 
grapes,  the  downy  pink  of  the  peaches,  the  red 
flowers  on  the  branch,  the  brown  of  the  hazelnuts 
—  they  give  the  richest  and  most  voluptuous  variety 
to  delight  the  eye. 

Genre  as  seen  in  some  of  the  "  little  master- 
pieces "  is  only  still  life  painting  with  figures  added. 
The  greatest  of  the  genre  painters  are  found  here 
at  their  best.  Witness  that  letter-writing  lady  of 
the  gallant  Terborch,  who  rarely  has  executed  any- 
thing more  tender  and  delicate  than  that  fine  face, 
that  hair,  that  pearl  on  the  blue  ribbon.  Also  the 
Gerard  Dou,  "  The  Quack  Dentist,"  is  of  extraor- 
dinary quality.  The  sterling  work  of  Pieter  de 
Hooch  is  never  seen  to  better  advantage  than  in  this 
"  Good   Housekeeper,"   an  elderly  woman  putting 


®tber  Hm0tert>am  Galleries  299 

away  the  linen.  It  is  remarkable  that  this  picture, 
to  be  fully  appreciated,  must  hang  in  a  dark  corner, 
the  darker  the  better,  when  the  wonderful  lumi- 
nosity of  the  different  colours  in  the  foreground, 
the  yellow,  red,  pink,  brown,  and  white  unite  in  one 
harmonious  tone.  Gabriel  Metsu's  "  The  Herring 
Dealer  "  is  called  by  Smith,  "  one  of  the  master's 
most  characteristic  examples."  Frans  van  Mieris 
shows  in  his  "  Music  Lesson  "  an  exceptionally  rich 
and  brilliant  colour  scheme,  while  Willem  van 
Mieris  is  equally  personal  in  his  little  panels  of  a 
trumpeter,  and  of  drinking  bon-viveurs.  Adriaen 
van  Ostade  has  two  examples,  "  The  Skaters  "  and 
"  The  Fishmarket,"  both  of  his  best  period.  An 
"  Interior,"  by  Dominicus  van  Tol,  is  one  of  the 
three  genres  in  the  Dutch  galleries  of  this  rare 
painter.  The  "  Grandmother,"  by  Brekelenkam, 
and  the  "  Guardroom,"  by  the  younger  Teniers, 
are  excellent  specimens.  By  Cornelis  Dusart  is  a 
small  cottage  with  some  figures,  which  is  very  at- 
tractive. Two  examples  by  God  fried  Schalcken, 
one  showing  a  woman  selling  citrons,  the  other 
one  herring,  are  worthy  of  this  pupil  of  Dou. 

Jan  Steen  is  represented  here  by  a  lively  scene 
of  a  Jewish  bride,  led  by  her  mother  to  the  bride- 
groom, who  is  being  showered  with  flowers  by  his 
bride's  playmates;  musicians  are  playing  for  dear 
life,  and  many  curious  ones  are  approaching  to  wit- 


300  trbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  BetberlanC)  Galleries 

ness  the  fun.  A  little  boy  on  the  right,  drinking  at 
a  fountain,  adds  a  naive  note  to  this  scene  of  ani- 
mation. And  again  we  see  the  master  in  one  of  his 
choice  little  single  figures,  a  girl  eating  oysters, 
which  is  superb  in  execution,  recalling  the  finesse 
of  van  Mieris,  and  rivalling  in  freshness  the  colour 
of  Metsu. 

Nicolaas  Maes  has  a  capital  work  in  his  "  Jeal- 
ous Woman,"  in  which  he  displays  some  of  the 
light-management  of  de  Hooch  in  that  vista  of  the 
vestibule  and  the  rooms  beyond.  The  broken  tints, 
the  expressive  heads  of  the  figures,  and  the  cool 
harmony  of  colours  make  this  an  admirable  work. 
Judith  Leyster  shows  masculine  strength  in  a  "  Mu- 
sician," which  even  Bode  formerly  attributed  to 
Frans  Hals. 

The  "  Moonlight,"  by  Aelbert  Cuyp,  is  a  work 
of  inspiration,  an  outburst  of  genius,  that  comes 
unexpected.  Fromentin,  when  seeing  this  marine, 
declared  it  "  un  veritable  trompe  I'oeil  avec  I'art  le 
plus  savant."  The  work  is  so  simple,  so  serene,  so 
natural,  that  it  must  be  considered  a  miracle  of 
night  painting. 

The  gallery  contains  many  landscapes  of  singu- 
lar attractiveness.  They  are  by  Izaak  van  Ostade, 
Both,  Berchem,  Allert  van  Everdingen,  Aert  van 
der  Neer,  Pynacker,  and  Hackaert.  There  is  also 
a  notable  Rombouts,  a  landscape  in  which  cattle  are 


©tber  Hm8ter&am  ©alleries         301 

most  prominent,  in  the  thorough  manner  of  Pot- 
ter. 

The  most  valuable  painting,  next  to  the  Six  por- 
trait, was  doubtlessly  the  "  Milkmaid,"  by  Vermeer 
van  Delft,  which  is  now  in  the  Ryksmuseum.  An- 
other example  of  Vermeer  is  one  of  his  rare  out- 
door views,  "  The  Front  of  a  House."  It  has  the 
true  touch  of  the  master.  The  cloudy  sky  is  in 
beautiful  tone  with  the  ensemble.  Jan  van  der 
Heyden  has  a  view  of  Delft,  with  figures  by 
A.  van  de  Velde;  and  Houckgeest  a  Church  of 
Delft. 

GrtDvert  Flinck's  "  Isaac  blessing  Jacob,"  found 
here,  is  much  earlier  than  the  one  in  the  Ryksmu- 
seum, which  in  comparison  demonstrates  the  prog- 
ress the  young  artist  made  in  Rembrandt's  studio. 
Another  scriptural  subject  is  delineated  by  Ger- 
brandt  van  den  Eeckhout  in  his  "  Christ  and  the 
Woman  taken  in  Adultery."  An  example  by  Ru- 
bens, of  undoubted  authority,  which  has  neverthe- 
less escaped  the  catalogue  of  Rubens'  works  by  Max 
Rooses,  gives  the  appearance  of  Christ  to  the  Mag- 
dalene. And  still  we  must  mention  four  works 
by  Adriaen  van  de  Velde,  of  his  very  best,  four  by 
Jacob  van  Ruisdael,  a  Hobbema  of  minor  impor- 
tance, and  two  excellent  specimens  by  Philip  Wou- 
werman. 


SANTA  BAR3AU.V  STATE  COLLEGE  UBRAKX 

3-?  09  3 


302  Ube  art  ot  tbe  •HetbcrlanO  Galleries 

The  Museum  Fodor 

The  1 60  paintings  in  this  Museum  belong  all  to 
the  last  century,  and  are  by  Dutch,  French,  and 
Flemish  artists.  The  works  of  classicists  like  Ary 
Scheffer,  Madou  and  Gallait,  hang  side  by  side  with 
those  by  Decamps,  Delacroix,  and  Gericault.  Of 
interest  is  Gericault's  first  sketch  of  his  celebrated 
"Raft  of  the  Medusa."  Pieneman,  Leys,  Rochu- 
sen,  and  many  others  are  shown.  Bosboom  is  rep- 
resented by  several  examples,  while  one  of  the  best 
works  of  Andreas  Schelfhout,  fully  epitomizing 
the  best  of  landscape  painting  of  the  beginning  of 
the  19th  century,  is  his  "  Winter"  (Plate  XXIX), 
which  is  found  in  this  collection. 

A  large  number  of  water  colours  form  part  of 
the  collection,  together  with  a  rich  assortment  of 
drawings  and  etchings  by  the  old  masters,  as  Rem- 
brandt, Dou,  Rubens,  van  Dyck,  and  large  mono- 
chromes by  Adriaen  van  Ostade. 

To  complete  the  review  of  Art  to  be  found  in 
Amsterdam,  I  would  still  record  that  the  Church 
of  the  Remonstrants,  on  the  Keyzersgracht,  pos- 
sesses several  portraits,  which  are  hung  in  its  coun- 
cil chamber.  Among  these  we  find  a  portrait  of 
Johannes  Uytenbogaert,  the  court  preacher  of 
Prins  Maurits,  by  Jacob  Backer,  and  two  splendid 
portraits  by  Thomas  de  Keyzer. 


®tbcr  Hmster5am  Galleries  303 

The  Royal  Palace  on  the  Dam  harbours  also  an 
excellent  Govert  Flinck,  "  Solomon's  Prayer,"  and 
a  large  canvas  by  Jordaens,  "  The  Romans  defeated 
by  the  Bataves,"  full  of  energy,  and  Rubenesque 
in  colour.  In  the  throne-room  is  a  canvas  by  Ferdi- 
nand Bol,  "  Moses  on  Mount  Sinai,"  which  is  un- 
fortunately almost  completely  hidden  by  the  canopy. 
The  most  famous  of  Jacob  de  Wit's  sculpture  imi- 
tations decorate  many  rooms. 

The  city  hall  has  been  almost  entirely  denuded 
of  its  works  of  art  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ryksmu- 
seum.  Still  a  few  paintings  are  left,  among  others 
a  Regents  group  by  Bol;  a  view  of  the  Dam,  by 
Lingelbach;  the  scene  of  the  fire  of  the  city  hall, 
then  on  the  Dam,  in  1652,  by  Saenredam;  a  large 
militia  piece  by  Jacob  Backer;  and  another  group 
of  twenty-one  guardsmen  with  their  officers,  by 
Nicolas  Elias. 

The  Burgher  Orphan  Asylum  in  the  Kalverstraat 
has  several  groups  of  its  Directors  by  Arnold 
Boonen,  Jurriaen  Ovens,  and  one  of  four  elderly 
ladies  by  Jacob  Backer,  which  is  one  of  his  best 
works. 

The  Wallon  Orphanage  on  the  Vyzelsgracht  has 
two  such  groups,  by  Wallerant  Vaillant,  and  by 
van  der  Heist. 


THE  MAURIT>SHUI3 

FtRST  f=^LOOR  SECOND  FLOOR 


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nr 

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X 

XI 

xa 

REMBRANOT 

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IX 

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304 


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c. 

BISSCHOP 


HINLOPEN    INTERIOR 

Plate    XXXIX 
(5^^   page  29i) 


Municipal  Museum 
Amsterdatn 


CHAPTER    XII  . 

THE   HAGUE    GALLERIES 

The  Mauritshuis 

This  Museum  contains  almost  seven  hundred 
paintings,  about  one  fourth  of  these  being  by  for- 
eign artists,  principally  Flemish.  Two  of  its  Hol- 
beins  may  be  considered  among  the  gems  of  the 
collection,  while  the  Madonna  by  Murillo,  the  royal 
portraits  by  Velasquez,  and  the  portraits  by  Piero 
di  Cosimo  rival  any  works  by  these  masters  in  the 
largest  museums. 

Although  the  hanging  arrangement,  by  reason  of 
new  acquisitions,  is  frequently  changed,  we  will 
find  the  principal  paintings  to  be  discussed  in  the 
rooms  indicated.  Room  I,  opposite  the  entrance, 
is  devoted  principally  to  the  Flemish  school.  Turn- 
ing to  the  left,  we  note  a  small  panel  by  David 
Teniers,  the  Younger,  of  an  "  Alchemist,"  a  fa- 
vourite subject  of  the  artist  for  the  introduction 
of  his  grotesque  creatures.  This  is  not  one  of  the 
most   successful  of  the  many  alchemists   he  has 

305 


3o6  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  netberlanD  (Balleries 

painted.  A  canvas  with  dead  birds,  by  Jan  Fyt,  is 
characteristic  of  the  artist.  A  **  Ball  at  the  Court 
of  Archduke  Albert  of  Austria  "  is  from  the  brush 
of  Frans  Franken,  the  Younger.  Frans  Pourbus, 
the  Younger,  painted  seven  of  the  principal  per- 
sonages in  this  composition,  which  is  of  some  his- 
torical interest.  A  large  canvas,  representing  a 
stag-hunt,  is  by  Paul  de  Vos,  but  except  for  its 
size  is  of  little  interest.  The  two  portraits  by  van 
Dyck,  of  Sir  Sheffield  and  his  wife,  are  above  his 
average  in  merit,  and  besides  are  of  interest,  be- 
cause they  bear  the  undoubtedly  genuine  signature 
of  the  master  —  rare,  because  out  of  six  or  eight 
hundred  canvases  by  van  Dyck,  only  fifteen  or 
twenty  were  signed  by  him. 

What  is  considered  one  of  the  masterpieces  of 
the  younger  Teniers  is  "  The  Kitchen,"  which  fol- 
lows. In  the  centre  the  housewife  is  seated,  with 
a  boy  standing  by  her  side,  and  surrounded  by  all 
kinds  of  game  and  fish  waiting  to  be  fetched  by 
the  cooks,  busy  in  the  background.  A  huge  meat- 
pie  surmounted  by  a  swan  is  placed,  ready-prepared, 
on  a  table.  It  is  a  most  interesting  picture,  con- 
sidering the  minute  execution  of  all  the  details  on 
a  canvas  only  measuring  22  x  31  inches.  The  shad- 
ows and  the  lights  are  happily  distributed,  and  the 
figures  full  of  life. 

A  portrait  by  Rubens  shows  the  master  in  re- 


XTbe  "fcaoue  Galleries  307 

straint.  The  subject,  his  father-confessor,  the 
Bishop  of  Bois-le-Duc,  may  account  for  this.  His 
mythologic  theme,  "  Naiads  filHng  the  Horn  of 
Plenty,"  has  suffered  greatly  by  cleaning,  causing 
it  to  have  that  porcelain-like  surface  which  we  find 
with  Hendrik  van  Balen,  to  whom  it  used  to  be 
ascribed.  The  landscape  is  by  Velvet  Breughel, 
who  has  also  collaborated  with  Rubens  in  the  next 
panel,  "  Adam  and  Eve  in  Paradise."  This  is  ex- 
cellently preserved  and  shows  the  masterful  qual- 
ities of  both  artists.  A  little  further  hangs  his  oft- 
repeated  "  Venus  and  Adonis,"  which  the  catalogue 
declares  a  copy  after  Rubens,  the  original  being  in 
St.  Petersburg.  But  Max  Rooses,  the  best  Rubens* 
scholar,  contends  for  this  one  as  the  original. 

Three  Holbeins  hang  together.  The  portrait  of 
Robert  Cheseman,  holding  a  falcon,  is  admirable 
in  colour  and  finesse.  Another  man's  portrait  is 
also  of  a  Falconer.  It  is  much  smaller  in  size,  but 
of  equal  virility.  The  portrait  of  a  young  woman 
is  either  an  original  or  a  splendid  copy  of  a  work 
by  the  great  German  master.  Another  copy  or  rep- 
lica is  a  portrait  of  Jane  Seymour,  the  third  wife 
of  Henry  VHI.  The  original  of  this  portrait  is 
in  the  Imperial  Museum  of  Vienna. 

Six  separate  medallions,  joined  by  ornamental 
motives,  show  Constantin  Huygens,  the  poet  and 
statesman,  with  his  five  children.     The  canvas  is 


3o8  xrbe  Hrt  ot  tbc  iaetberlan&  Galleries 

painted  by  Adriaen  Hanneman,  in  van  Dyck's  man- 
ner, to  whom  it  was  originally  attributed.  In  the 
canvas  by  Frans  Snyders,  "  Hunter  with  dead 
Game,"  the  figure  has  been  painted  by  some  pupil 
of  the  Rubens  studio.  Gillis  van  Tillborgh,  one  of 
the  latest  Flemish  painters,  shows  a  family  dinner- 
party, in  the  style  of  the  younger  Teniers. 

The  comer  alcove,  II,  contains  some  of  the  Prim- 
itives. An  unknown  "  Descent  from  the  Cross  " 
has  been  attributed  to  Rogier  van  der  Weyden, 
which  attribution  has  been  strongly  contested  by 
Crowe  and  Cavalcasselle  and  by  Hymans.  Wau- 
ters  has  ascribed  it  to  Memlinc,  finding  various 
figures  peculiar  to  Memlinc  in  the  composition. 
The  authorship  of  this  remarkable  early  painting 
lies  with  a  master  of  the  brush,  no  matter  with 
whom. 

A  "  Salome,"  carrying  the  head  of  John  the 
Baptist,  is  from  the  brush  of  Jacob  Cornelisz.  van 
Oostsanen  (Plate  III),  It  is  a  profoundly  beau- 
tiful work.  Although  the  eyes  of  the  young  woman 
are  somewhat  defective,  there  is  great  charm  in 
the  fine  modelling.  The  head  on  the  platter  is  a 
masterful  piece  of  foreshortening  of  the  features. 
Attributed  to  the  same  artist,  but  not  with  any  as- 
surance, is  a  triptych,  whereof  the  centre  panel 
shows  Solomon  worshipping  the  idols,  the  left  wing 
the  Queen  of  Sheba  before  Solomon,  the  right  one, 


Ube  "fcaaue  (Ballerics  309 

God  appearing  to  Solomon.  A  portrait  of  a  man, 
by  Hans  Memlinc,  reminds  of  the  one  in  the  Cor- 
sini  Gallery  in  Florence. 

Crossing  the  hall,  we  find  in  Room  III  still  a  few 
Flemish  pictures.  Hendrik  van  Balen  has  "  The 
Sacrifice  to  Cybele,"  for  which  Velvet  Breughel 
painted  the  charming  wreath  of  flowers  and  fruit. 
Anton  van  Dyck  is  seen  in  a  portrait  of  his  brother- 
painter  Quintyn  Simons.  This  is  in  van  Dyck's 
Flemish  manner,  more  profound  and  intimate,  and 
of  more  solid  execution,  than  the  elegant  and  some- 
what superficial  style  which  he  adopted  soon  after 
arriving  in  England.  One  of  the  many  Rubens 
portraits  of  Helene  Fourment,  the  master's  second 
wife,  as  well  as  his  portrait  of  his  first  wife,  Isa- 
bella Brant,  are  found  here.  Although  these  por- 
traits are  of  interest,  they  cannot  be  compared  with 
others  in  Munich,  London,  St.  Petersburg,  and  else- 
where. 

"  The  Studio  of  Apelles,"  where  Alexander  is 
paying  a  visit  to  the  artist,  which  the  catalogue 
ascribes  to  an  unknown  of  the  Flemish  school, 
should  be  accorded  to  Sebastian  Vranx.  The  stu- 
dio is  hung  with  small  facsimiles  of  many  well- 
known  paintings  of  the  i6th  and  17th  centuries, 
by  Titian,  Correggio,  Rubens,  etc.  The  "  Interior 
of  a  Picture  Gallery,"  going  by  the  name  of  Gon- 
zales Coques,  is  in  the  same  genre.    Only  the  group 


3IO  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbc  *letberlan&  aallertes 

in  the  foreground  is  by  Coques.  The  small  pic- 
tures were  painted  and  signed  by  various  members 
of  the  Antwerp  Guild  of  St.  Luke,  and  the  canvas 
was  presented  to  Jan  van  Bavegom,  a  jurist  who 
had  obtained  for  them  a  favourable  verdict  to  a 
long  lawsuit  against  six  other  guilds. 

The  remainder  of  these  walls  and  those  in  Room 
IV  are  covered  with  early  Dutchmen.  Maerten 
van  Heemskerck  painted  the  two  wings  of  an  altar- 
piece  for  the  Church  of  St.  Bavo  for  the  Guild  of 
the  Drapers  at  Haarlem.  They  represent  a  "  Na- 
tivity "  and  an  "  Adoration  of  the  Magi."  The 
centre  of  this  triptych,  "  The  Massacre  of  the  In- 
nocents," is  by  Comelis  Cornelisz.  van  Haarlem. 
The  entire  work  indicates  the  Italian  mannerisms 
of  these  early  painters.  Their  contemporary,  Hen- 
drik  Goltzius,  painted  the  three  large  canvases, 
which  depict  the  Greek  deities,  Minerva,  Hercules, 
and  Mercury. 

Of  surpassing  interest  is  the  "  Portrait  of  a  Crold- 
smith,"  by  Antonis  Mor,  one  of  his  finest  works, 
if  not,  as  some  regard  it,  his  masterpiece.  It  is 
Titianesque  in  colour  but  still  shows  thorough  in- 
dividuality of  treatment.  A  number  of  portraits 
by  Jan  van  Ravesteyn  in  these  rooms  give  an  ex- 
cellent opportunity  to  study  the  work  of  this  fore- 
runner of  Rembrandt. 

Rooms  V  and  VI,  at  the  other  side  of  the  vesti- 


Zbc  Dague  (Balleriea  3" 

bule,  contain  principally  portraits  of  Princes  of  the 
House  of  Orange,  their  relatives,  and  other  cele- 
brated personages.  Among  these  we  should  single 
out  one  of  the  portraits  which  Ferdinand  Bol 
painted  of  the  famous  Admiral  de  Ruyter.  An- 
other portrait  of  the  Admiral  by  Karel  du  Jardin, 
hanging  near,  shows  the  latter's  inferiority  as  an 
artist.  We  find  also  a  portrait  of  King  William 
III  of  England,  by  Godfried  Schalcken ;  one  of 
Princess  Wilhelmina  of  Prussia,  wife  of  Willem 
Frederik,  who  became  the  first  King  of  the  Nether- 
lands, by  Tischbein ;  two  portraits  by  Honthorst  of 
Prince  Frederik  Hendrik  of  Orange,  and  of  his 
wife  Amalia  van  Solms.  M.  van  Mierevelt  depicts 
the  features  of  the  great  William  the  Silent,  who 
is  also  portrayed  by  Paulus  van  Hillegaert.  And 
further  portraits  by  van  Ravesteyn,  Adr.  van  den 
Tempel,  and  others  are  found  on  the  staircase  lead- 
ing to  the  upper  floor. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairway,  in  the  ante-room 
(VII),  are  hung  some  of  the  choicest  gems  of 
"  little  masterpieces."  Beginning  with  the  left  wall 
at  the  window  we  find  the  celebrated  example  of 
Terborch,  "  The  Dispatch,"  also  called  "  Unwel- 
come Tidings."  This  picture,  dated  1655,  shows 
the  master  at  the  maturity  of  his  power.  The  sub- 
ject is  reminiscent  of  the  war  just  closed,  as  the 
trumpeter  hands  a  letter  to  his  superior  ofiicer,  who 


312  Ube  art  ot  tbe  "WetbcrlanD  Oallertes 

sits  on  a  low  chair  with  his  arm  about  a  woman. 
The  gist  of  the  story  turns  on  the  protective  mien 
of  the  officer's  hand,  and  the  sHghtly  sad  expression 
in  the  lady's  face.  Still  the  anecdotal  interest  is 
quickly  brushed  aside  for  the  masterful  handling. 
The  colour  scheme  of  the  picture  —  the  trumpeter's 
striking  costume  of  blue  and  yellow,  the  buff  of  the 
officer,  and  the  white  satin  robe  of  the  lady,  the 
strong  lemon  yellows  in  the  high-lights,  contrasting 
with  the  brownish  reds  and  deep  scarlets  in  the 
shadows,  give  a  rich  harmony  of  tones.  On  an- 
other wall  hangs  his  portrait  group  of  the  van 
Moerkerken  family,  a  small  panel,  only  i6  x  14 
inches,  which  is  enamel-like  in  finish.  Two  of  Jan 
Steen's  Doctor's  pictures  hang  close  together.  In 
one  the  physician  is  feeling  my  lady's  pulse;  the 
other  one  gives  a  richly-furnished  interior,  with  the 
invalid  reclining  on  a  baldaquin  bed,  while  the 
grave  Aesculapius  accepts  refreshment  from  the 
maid.  The  physician's  hands,  which  hold  the 
gloves  quite  in  nineteenth-century  fashion,  are 
beautifully  drawn.  A  little  further  on  hangs  one 
of  his  early  works,  "  The  Kermis." 

We  pass  a  thoroughly  Italian  work  that  seems 
very  much  out  of  keeping  with  its  immediate  sur- 
roundings. It  is  Abraham  Bloemaert's  somewhat 
glassy,  "  The  Festival  of  Gods  in  honour  of  the 
Wedding  of  Peleus."    Jan  van  Goyen  is  shown  in 


Ube  t)a0ue  Galleries  313 

a  characteristic  "  View  of  Dordrecht,"  and  in  an 
unusual  marine  with  stormy  waves.  J.  M.  Mol- 
enaer  has  a  "  Merry  Party,"  and  on  the  opposite 
wall  five  small  panels,  each  depicting  one  of  the 
five  senses.  These  were  plainly  painted  under  the 
influence  of  Frans  Hals  and  Adr.  Brouwer. 

"The  Music-lovers,"  by  Metsu  (Plate  XXIV), 
gives  us  one  of  his  intimate  peeps  into  the  world 
of  leisure  of  the  patrician  class.  The  stately  apart- 
ment with  its  rich  appointments,  and  the  elegant 
costumes,  of  the  man  for  street  wear,  of  the  women 
for  the  boudoir,  are  well  rendered  in  the  artist's 
careful  and  yet  broad  handling.  The  surfaces  are 
modelled,  the  textures  and  solidities  indicated,  with 
a  decisive  touch.  In  one  of  the  numerous  examples 
which  the  Mauritshuis  shows  of  Phil.  Wouwerman 
we  see  a  "  Riding  School,"  where  an  equestrian 
puts  his  steed  through  its  paces  before  a  lady,  seated 
in  a  carriage  drawn  by  six  gray  horses.  Land- 
scapes by  Jacob  van  Ruisdael,  Berchem,  and  Wy- 
nants  are  not  of  their  important  works.  A  capital 
canvas  is  Lingelbach's  "  Embarkation  at  Schevenin- 
gen  of  King  Charles  II  for  England."  His  Prins 
Willem  II  of  Orange  before  Amsterdam  "  is  not 
quite  as  satisfactory.  A  "  Lady  Reading,"  by  S. 
van  Hoogstraten,  and  several  still  lives,  by  P. 
Claesz.,  W.  van  Aelst,  A.  Cuyp,  and  W.  C.  Heda 
follow.    Then  come  portraits  by  van  der  Heist,  Bol, 


314  ^be  Hrt  ot  tbe  'fletberlan&  (Ballerles 

Moreelse,  and  two  important  ones,  by  Frans  Hals,  of 
Jacob  Olycan  and  of  his  wife.  Near  these  we  find 
Jacob  van  Ruisdael's  famous  "  The  Beach,"  a  scene 
near  Scheveningen,  with  the  dunes  on  the  right  and 
people  walking  towards  some  fishing-boats  on  the 
left.  Of  this  picture  Emile  Michel  has  written, 
"  The  swiftly  moving  clouds,  driven  in  light  flakes 
by  the  fresh  breeze,  the  short  and  hurried  waves 
capped  with  foam,  the  sand  dotted  here  and  there 
with  tufts  of  scant,  dry  grass,  the  changing  and 
transparent  colours  —  all  are  rendered  with  mar- 
vellous fidelity  to  nature.  The  little  people,  moving 
about  on  the  beach,  so  gaily  and  happily,  lend  ani- 
mation to  the  scene.  By  a  fortunate  device  Ruis- 
dael's collaborator,  probably  in  this  instance  Ver- 
meer  van  Delft,  has  clothed  them  in  black  and 
white,  offsetting  by  these  strongly  contrasting  notes 
the  exquisite  paleness  of  the  general  tone  of  the 
picture." 

A  little  further  on  hangs  van  Ruisdael's  "  Distant 
View  of  Haarlem,"  a  favourite  subject  of  which 
he  made  many  variations.  The  version  before  us 
is  considered  his  best,  and  Smith,  in  his  Catalogue 
Raisonne,  declares,  "  It  may  justly  be  said  that  as 
a  work  of  art  nothing  more  perfect  ever  came  from 
the  master's  pencil."  The  picture  is  a  bird's-eye 
view  taken  from  the  dunes  near  Overveen.  In  the 
foreground  are  the  bleaching  grounds  for  which 


Ube  IbaQue  6allertes  315 

Holland  is  famous,  beyond  stretches  a  bare  tract 
of  country,  and  on  the  horizon  Haarlem  is  visible. 
Over  all  extends  a  vast,  gray,  and  cloudy  sky.  The 
master  never  gave  as  noble  a  presentation  of  a 
plain,  almost  trivial  phase  of  nature,  with  ever  en- 
hanced beauty. 

Melchior  d'Hondecoeter  found  all  the  animal 
subjects  he  needed  for  his  "  Menagerie  of  Prins 
Willem  in,"  at  the  castle  of  Het  Loo.  Salomo 
van  Ruysdael  is  well  represented  in  his  "  Bridge 
over  a  Canal,"  and  Simon  de  Vlieger's  "  Beach  at 
Scheveningen "  is  considered  his  masterpiece.  A 
rustic  festival,  by  Adriaen  van  Ostade;  a  genre, 
by  Judith  Leyster ;  and  a  "  Sunset  on  the  Coast," 
by  Willem  van  de  Velde,  the  Younger,  leave  us 
yet  to  consider  two  examples  of  Thomas  de  Key- 
zer  of  supreme  importance,  and  considered  his  mas- 
terpieces. One  of  these  is  only  ii  inches  high  by 
15  inches  wide,  and  yet  it  is  considered  one  of  de 
Keyzer's  greatest  paintings.  The  four  burgomas- 
ters of  Amsterdam  are  assembled  to  await  the  ar- 
rival of  Marie  de  Medicis,  in  1683.  Although  these 
figures  are  barely  eight  inches  high  they  throb  with 
life,  character,  and  expression.  There  is  marvel- 
lous strength  in  the  simplicity,  unity  and  harmony, 
that  declare  the  master  hand.  Nor  need  we  be  less 
enthusiastic  over  his  "  Portrait  of  a  Scholar,"  a 


3i6  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  lactbcrlanb  Galleries 

larger  work  (32x24),  which  is  comparable  with 
the  portraiture  of  the  most  eminent  masters. 

From  the  ante-room  we  enter  Room  VIII,  called 
the  Rembrandt  Room.  In  the  centre  of  the  right 
wall  hangs  the  celebrated  "  Anatomical  Lesson  of 
Professor  Tulp."  This  magnificent  portrait-group, 
where  the  interest  is  completely  captivated  by  the 
virility  and  characterization  of  the  assembled  sur- 
geons, has  not  gone  without  adverse  criticism. 
Fromentin,  one  of  the  sincere  admirers  of  Rem- 
brandt, has  severely  attacked  the  composition,  es- 
pecially the  painting  of  the  corpse.  And  yet,  the 
world's  judgment  has  acclaimed  this  painting  as 
one  of  the  master's  greatest  triumphs.  It  came  at 
the  beginning  of  his  career  (painted  1632),  when 
he  was  only  twenty-six,  and  was  the  opening  of  the 
recognition  of  his  genius.  We  are  carried  away 
by  the  reality  of  the  living.  The  vigour,  the  in- 
tellect of  these  heads,  is  victorious  over  the  reality 
of  the  dead,  for  the  stunted  corpse  is  hardly  no- 
ticed by  the  spectator.  The  scene  also  possesses 
an  amplitude  which  extends  beyond  the  frame,  and 
it  seems  that  these  men  who  rivet  our  attention 
only  belong  to  a  large  audience,  of  which  we  form 
a  part,  which  is  witnessing  the  demonstration. 

I  will  enumerate  the  other  works  of  Rembrandt 
in  this  one,  and  in  the  next  room  (IX).  There 
is  the  head  of  a  girl,  also  of  his   early  period 


tlbe  DaGue  Galleries  317 

(1630),  a  still  earlier  study-head  of  his  father 
(1628),  and  a  self-portrait  of  1639,  of  which  rep- 
licas are  in  Cassel  and  in  Gotha.  The  "  Susanna," 
on  the  point  of  stepping  into  her  bath,  when  she  is 
alarmed  by  the  presence  of  the  two  elders,  of  whom 
one  is  distinguishable  in  the  shrubbery,  is  a  work 
of  great  importance.  It  clearly  reveals  the  master's 
aim  in  all  his  work.  His  object  was  never  the 
beauty  of  line  —  for  this  flaccid  body  has  no  beauty 
except  in  its  natural  pose,  expressive  of  offended 
modesty.  But  he  aimed  at  beauty  of  colour,  of  the 
play  of  light,  of  the  morhidesza.  This  he  reached 
almost  as  conclusively  in  the  little  "  Andromeda, 
chained  to  the  Rock,"  recently  lent  by  Dr.  Bredius, 
the  director  of  the  Museum. 

Rembrandt's  earliest  important  composition, 
painted  in  163 1,  is  his  "  Simeon  in  the  Temple." 
It  has  a  significant  place  among  the  master's  works. 
As  a  religious  painting  it  is  entirely  distinct,  by 
its  intimate  personality,  from  all  religious  paint- 
ings that  had  gone  before,  be  they  Italian,  Flemish, 
or  Dutch.  It  was  an  unmistakable  new  departure. 
At  the  same  time  it  also  foreshadows  the  master's 
aspirations  in  the  domain  of  chiaroscuro  and  of 
colour.  This  point  may  be  studied  by  a  comparison 
with  a  recently  acquired  work  of  his  latest  period 
(1660),  which  hangs  in  the  next  room.  "David 
playing  the  Harp  before  Saul "  is  the  most  impor- 


3i8  Ube  art  of  tbe  fletberlanb  (Balleries 

tant  example  left  in  Holland  of  his  biblical  composi- 
tions, brilliant  in  colour,  and  of  compelling  force. 
Near  by  we  find  his  broad  and  masterly  "  Homer," 
painted  in  1663,  from  an  antique  bust  which  Rem- 
brandt had  among  his  chattels.  The  "  Head  of  an 
old  Man  "  is  supposed  to  show  his  brother,  the 
miller.  A  portrait  of  himself  as  an  officer  was 
painted  in  1634;  while  the  "Laughing  Man"  has 
also  the  features  of  a  self-portrait.  Other  early 
portrait  sketches  are  found  of  his  sister,  and  of  his 
mother,  and  the  heads  of  two  negroes  are  of  his 
latest  period. 

But  we  must  return  to  Room  VHI,  which  con- 
tains some  very  interesting  examples.  "  Judith 
and  Tamar  "  is  by  Aert  van  Gelder,  showing  the 
later  tendencies  of  the  golden  school,  apparently 
reverting  to  the  early  manner  before  Rembrandt, 
which  method  is  to  be  seen  in  P.  Lastman's  "  Rais- 
ing of  Lazarus."  "  Flowers  "  by  W.  van  Aelst ;  a 
landscape  by  Filips  Koninck ;  a  "  Tavern  Interior  " 
by  Dusart ;  and  two  examples  by  Jan  Steen,  all  of 
lesser  interest,  bring  us  to  Caspar  Netscher's  "  Sing- 
ing Lesson,"  which  is  supposed  to  represent  the 
painter's  own  family.  The  "  Adoration  of  the 
Magi,"  by  Salomo  Koninck,  is  a  competent  pres- 
entation of  this  artist's  talent.  The  happy  com- 
position, its  clear  transparency,  while  most  of  his 
works  are  blackened,  its  golden  tonality,  make  it  one 


XTbe  l)aaue  Galleries  319 

of  this  painter's  most  acceptable  productions.  A. 
van  de  Velde  has  a  wooded  landscape  with  cattle, 
a  small  picture,  full  of  life,  and  charming-  in  colour. 
Two  portraits  by  Netscher,  of  "  Mynheer  van 
Waalwyk  "  and  of  his  wife,  have  the  style  of  Ter- 
borch.  Two  fine  marines  by  W.  van  de  Velde,  the 
Younger,  and  two  landscapes,  one  known  as  "  The 
Hay-cart,"  by  Wouwerman,  lead  us  to  one  of  the 
best  works  by  Adriaen  van  Ostade,  "  The  Fiddler  " 
(Plate  XVI).  The  artist  has  treated  this  subject 
many  times,  but  never  as  successfully  as  here.  The 
jolly  group  is  excellently  arranged,  the  painting  is 
done  with  great  spirit  and  fine  finish,  but  the  best 
point  is  the  fresh,  sparkling  manner  in  which  sun- 
light plays  with  the  shadows.  It  was  painted  in 
1673,  when  the  artist  was  in  his  sixty-third  year. 
Equal  proficiency  in  chiaroscuro  is  shown  in  his 
"  Peasants  in  a  Tavern,"  hanging  a  little  further 
on.  "The  Cow  in  the  Water,"  by  Paul  Potter, 
must  not  be  overlooked,  as  it  is  by  far  the  best 
cattle  picture  the  artist  ever  painted,  in  every  respect 
superior  to  his  "  Young  Bull."  Still  lives,  by  van 
Beyeren,  and  by  Kalff,  and  an  Italian  landscape  by 
Both,  complete  this  room. 

In  Room  IX  we  find,  beside  the  Rembrandts  al- 
ready studied,  an  example  by  Karel  Fabricius, 
"  The  Linnet ; "  a  small  Gerard  Dou,  "  Young 
Woman  holding  a  Lamp ; "  and  three  panels  by 


320  Ubc  Hrt  of  tbe  fletberlan&  6aUeries 

Frans  van  Mieris,  the  Elder,  in  which  his  porcelain- 
like execution,  as  well  as  his  individual  manner  of 
charming  naivete,  are  to  be  recognized. 

The  piece-de-resistance  of  this  room  is  the  fa- 
mous "  View  of  Delft,"  by  Jan  Vermeer  van  Delft, 
as  masterful  a  painting  of  landscape  as  the  best 
of  this  master's  genre.  It  is  a  landscape,  so  ama- 
zingly simple  in  its  painting,  that  it  scarcely  needs 
analysis,  yet  as  mysterious  in  the  manner  of  its 
atmosphere  and  light  effects,  as  any  landscape  ever 
limned.  The  almost  empty  foreground  is  domi- 
nated by  the  view  of  the  town  with  its  red  roofs 
and  the  purple  and  yellow  bricks  of  the  houses, 
drawn  by  an  unhesitating  and  unfaltering  hand. 
With  instinctive  selection  the  brilliant  sunlight 
gilds  here  a  spire,  there  a  salient  gable.  The  vague, 
greenish  reflections  in  the  sluggish,  gray  water  of 
the  canal  form  one  of  the  quiet  colour  notes  to  be 
added  to  the  vigour  and  brilliancy  of  its  colour 
gamut.  It  is  a  sumptuous  canvas  of  amazing 
strength. 

Of  the  remaining  pictures  in  this  room  it  is  well 
to  linger  before  a  winter-landscape  by  Jan  van  de 
Capelle,  better  known  as  a  marine  painter;  before 
still  lives  by  van  Beyeren,  Jan  Weenix,  and  Ruysch ; 
portraits  by  Nic.  Maes,  Jakob  van  Loo,  and  A. 
Cuyp.  A  painting  of  an  "  Officer "  is  from  the 
brush  of  the  early  Willem  Duyster,  of  whom  few 


TLbc  Ijaauc  Galleries  321 

paintings  are  extant.  It  was  formerly  attributed 
to  Palamedes,  and  even  Dr.  Bode  gave  it  to  Jacob 
Duck,  until  the  well-known  London  expert  Charles 
Dowdeswell,  by  comparing  it  with  other  signed 
works  of  this  rare  master,  has  indubitably  estab- 
lished the  true  attribution. 

When  we  take  a  look  in  the  corner-room  X,  we 
are  amused  by  a  number  of  clever  pastels  by  Cor- 
nelis  Troost,  which  under  various  titles  give  a  suc- 
cinct insight  in  social  customs  of  the  early  i8th 
century.  The  scenes  are  designed  to  illustrate  con- 
temporaneous plays.  A  crayon  portrait  by  Tisch- 
bein  of  Princess  Wilhelmina  of  Orange  hangs  also 
in  this  room. 

Room  XI  contains  some  of  the  most  valuable 
treasures  of  the  collection.  On  the  right-end  wall 
hangs  the  far-famed  "  Young  Bull,"  by  Paul  Pot- 
ter. The  supreme  merit  of  this  large  canvas  is  the 
photographic  exactitude  in  which  the  young  bull 
is  portrayed.  The  other  figures  are  no  whit  better 
performances  than  Verboeckhoven,  for  instance, 
has  done  at  his  best.  But  this  life-size  bull  has  been 
so  minutely  reproduced,  the  run  of  the  hair  on  the 
creature's  forehead,  the  flies  buzzing  about  him, 
every  minute  detail  so  faithfully  rendered,  that  one 
marvels  at  the  patience  and  power  of  observation 
of  the  twenty-two  year  old  artist.  The  weakness 
of  the  painting  lies  in  the  strong  relief  of  the  fig- 


322  Zbc  art  ot  tbe  "Wetberlant)  (Galleries 

ures  without  any  atmosphere,  and  the  poor  paint- 
ing of  the  sky.  The  absence  of  softening  half- 
tones, and  the  equal  diffusion  of  light  gives  a  flat 
appearance.  And  yet  we  do  not  wonder  that  in 
the  time  of  the  Napoleonic  looting,  when  this  can- 
vas was  also  taken  to  the  Louvre,  this  work  should 
have  been  regarded  as  fourth  in  point  of  value 
among  all  the  pictures  of  the  Lx)uvre  —  for  classi- 
cism held  sway.  The  three  paintings  considered 
to  rank  higher  were  Raphael's  "  Transfiguration," 
Domenichino's  "  Communion  of  St.  Jerome,"  and 
Titian's  "  Martyrdom  of  St.  Peter."  This  order 
of  valuation  has  since  changed! 

To  the  right  of  this  large  canvas  hangs  a  por- 
trait of  Potter,  by  van  der  Heist.  The  painting  is 
in  an  easy  style,  decided  in  its  strokes,  and  of  thin 
impasto,  but  so  masterly  in  treatment  that  the  qual- 
ity of  solid  flesh  and  substance  is  preserved  through- 
out. The  friendship  between  the  two  artists  in- 
spired van  der  Heist  to  his  best.  Several  artists 
whose  work  has  already  been  seen  follow,  but 
among  these  we  must  note  two  Wouwermans, 
"  The  Arrival "  and  "  The  Departure  from  the 
Hostelry  "  —  two  spirited  works.  Houckgeest  has 
also  a  graphic  canvas  of  great  merit,  "  The  Tomb 
of  William  the  Silent  in  the  Nieuwe  Kerk  of 
Delft." 

Three  of  the  best  examples  of  Jan  Steen  hang 


Ube  "fcaguc  (Balledes  323 

close  together,  the  unusually  large  group  of  his  own 
family,  the  picture  of  a  poultry-yard,  known  as  the 
"  Menagerie,"  and  "  The  Oyster- feast,"  also  called 
a  "  Picture  of  Human  Life."  The  canvas  repre- 
senting the  painter's  family  has  our  jolly  artist  in 
the  centre,  laughing  and  smoking  and  about  to 
drink.  His  wife,  a  buxom,  good-natured  looking 
dame,  sits  at  his  side.  They  are  evidently  amused 
at  the  serious  manner  in  which  their  eldest  boy  is 
playing  the  flageolet  to  accompany  the  loud  song 
of  grandfather,  who  sits  by  the  chimney.  Grand- 
mother is  busily  occupied  with  the  youngest  hope- 
ful. Other  figures  contribute  to  the  merry  scene. 
Steen  never  attempted  the  grand  style,  but  as  an 
optimist,  a  happy  observer  of  the  bright  side  of 
life,  he  is  an  inspiration.  The  painting  is  in  his 
best  manner,  with  ripest  splendour  of  colour  and 
most  resonant  harmonies. 

The  next  picture,  "  The  Menagerie,"  he  imbued 
with  more  delicate  charm  and  refined  beauty.  In 
the  court-yard  of  a  large  mansion,  seen  through  an 
arched  doorway,  a  little  girl  is  feeding  her  pets, 
attended  by  an  old  man-servant,  and  a  dwarf,  gro- 
tesquely attired  in  a  long  gray  coat.  The  contrast 
between  the  Madonna-like  little  maid  and  the  mis- 
formed  dwarf  is  as  striking  as  any  Velasquez  ever 
attempted.  A  warm  light  suffuses  the  picture, 
touching  the  bright  and  variegated  plumage  of  the 


324  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  fletberlanb  (Ballertes 

birds.  It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  scenes  of  wassail 
and  tobacco  fumes  —  it  is  a  spiritualization  of  in- 
nocence, albeit  with  its  foil  of  the  distorted. 

The  third  painting  is  supposed  to  give  a  view 
of  the  master's  own  brewery.  To  call  it  a  "  pic- 
ture of  human  life  "  is  to  ascribe  to  our  painter  a 
strain  of  didactic  philosophy  which  he  would  be 
the  first  to  disclaim.  It  surely  never  was  his  inten- 
tion to  moralize  like  a  preacher,  although  this  keen 
observer  frequently  pointed  his  tale  with  a  moral. 
While  this  composition,  with  about  twenty  persons, 
lacks  unity,  it  nevertheless  is  the  most  lifelike,  ani- 
mated portrayal  of  every-day  life  ever  painted. 
Old  age  and  childhood,  idleness  and  bustle,  love 
and  duty,  and  hovering  over  all  the  broad  cheer- 
fulness of  the  master  himself,  produces  a  happy 
arrangement  of  fertile  invention.  It  is  done  in 
rich  and  strong  colour,  with  most  resolute  and 
energetic  handling. 

In  Dirk  van  Delen's  "  Hall  of  the  Binnenhof, 
during  the  Assembly  of  the  States  General  in 
165 1,"  although  of  merit,  we  find  the  effect  spoiled 
by  the  disturbing  fluttering  of  many  banners.  The 
dead  swan,  occurring  in  many  of  Jan  Weenix's 
paintings,  is  here  grandly  portrayed,  life-size,  and 
with  beautiful  reality.  A  "  Musical  Party,"  by 
Palamedes;  works  by  Codde,  in  his  first  manner; 
by  van  Ostade;  and  by  Aert  van  der  Neer,  are  all 


XTbc  Daauc  Oalleries  335 

of  their  best  productions.  A  rare  picture  by  Jan 
Vermeer  van  Utrecht  represents  "  Diana  at  the 
Bath,"  which,  if  we  could  leave  out  some  Italian 
characteristics,  might  be  called  an  early  Vermeer 
van  Delft. 

Gerard  Don's  "The  Young  Mother"  (Plate 
XVII)  is  one  of  the  gems  of  the  collection,  as  it 
is  one  of  the  most  characteristic  of  this  master's 
works,  dated  1658,  of  his  best  period.  It  is  an 
epitome  of  domestic  peace,  set  in  an  astounding 
perfection  of  technical  presentation  —  its  light, 
clearness,  detailed  finish  form  its  splendour. 

In  the  comer-room  XII  we  find  among  other 
works  a  picture  by  Pieter  Codde  in  his  second 
manner,  "The  Ball"  (Plate  XV).  This  work  is 
typical  of  the  conversation  pieces  of  the  pre-Rem- 
brandt  period,  which  may  also  be  studied  in  H.  G. 
Pot's  "Merry  Company,"  of  distinguished  merit; 
and  also  in  one  of  the  first  society  pictures  from 
the  brush  of  Esaias  van  de  Velde,  "  The  Dinner- 
party." 

Room  XIII  contains  the  works  by  men  we  have 
already  seen  represented,  serving  to  amplify  our 
acquaintance  with  their  talents.  Huchtenburgh 
has,  however,  not  yet  been  met  with.  His  "  Cav- 
alry Charge,"  here,  is  of  sufficient  importance,  but 
also  suggests  the  decline  of  Dutch  art.  Joachim 
Wttewael  is  shown  by  a  "  Mars  and  Venus  sur- 


326  Ubc  Brt  of  tbe  •Retberlanb  Galleries 

prised  by  Vulcan,"  of  minute  execution,  the  sky 
being  filled  with  a  number  of  little  "  Loves."  An 
"  Alchemist,"  by  Thomas  Wyck,  is  also  of  great 
interest;  and  the  only  Museum  picture  by  Sool- 
maker  deploys  an  interesting  landscape. 

Room  XIV  is  devoted  to  Italian  and  Spanish 
paintings.  There  are  several  unaccredited,  and 
school  pictures,  and  copies.  Titian's  so-called 
"  Portraits  of  Ottavio  Famese  and  of  his  Mis- 
tress," of  the  Prado,  hang  here  in  effigy.  Two 
fine  portraits  by  Piero  di  Cosimo,  mentioned  by 
Vasari,  are  undoubtedly  genuine.  They  are  virile 
performances,  and  represent  Giuliano  da  San  Gallo, 
a  sculptor  and  architect,  and  his  father  Francesco 
Giamberti.  Mazzolino  is  shown  by  a  "  Massacre 
of  the  Innocents,"  of  which  a  replica  with  various 
alterations  hangs  in  the  Doria  Gallery  in  Rome. 
A  "  Landscape,"  by  Magnasco,  is  in  Salvator's 
heavy  style.  Bordone,  "  Christ  Blessing,"  and  a 
school-picture  of  "  St.  John,  the  Evangelist,"  com- 
plete the  Italians. 

Of  more  importance  are  the  few  Spanish  pic- 
tures. Murillo's  "  The  Virgin  with  the  Infant 
Jesus  "  is  noted  by  Justi,  who  declares  that  "  the 
Madonna's  face  is  the  most  beautiful  ever  painted 
by  the  master."  The  "  Portrait  of  the  Infante 
Charles  Balthazar,"  by  Velasquez,  is  a  replica  of  the 
one  in  Buckingham  palace.     "  The  Penitent  Mag- 


TTbe  fjague  (Balleries  327 

dalene,"  by  Cereso,  is  similar  to  one  by  this  artist 
in  the  Czernin  Collection  at  Vienna. 

The  collection  of  the  Mauritshuis  is  herewith 
concluded.  If  we  assay  the  majority  of  the  paint- 
ings here  we  will  find  very  little  dross,  and  most 
of  them  pure  gold. 

The  Municipal  Mtiseum 

This  Gallery  is  principally  devoted  to  nineteenth 
century  artists.  Two  rooms  are  filled  with  old  mas- 
ters, most  of  these  being  portraits.  We  find,  how- 
ever, also  an  "  Interior,"  by  Jan  Steen,  in  which 
a  cleric  gives  spiritual  advice  to  a  young  girl.  This 
painting  was  acquired  in  1895  '^^  London  for  only 
1,200  guilders.  With  the  appreciation  of  Steen's 
value  in  the  last  few  years,  there  has  already  been 
offered  10,000  guilders  for  this  interesting  com- 
position. Further  to  be  noted  are  a  "  Hunting 
Party,"  by  Jan  le  Ducq;  an  "Allegory  on  the 
Blessings  of  Peace,"  by  Gerard  de  Lairesse;  a  still 
life  of  "Fish,"  by  van  Beyeren;  and  a  view  of 
The  Hague,  by  Jan  van  Goyen.  This  last  picture 
is  the  largest  canvas  the  artist  ever  painted,  and 
was  bought  of  him  by  the  Magistrates  of  The 
Hague  in  1651  for  650  guilders.  It  is  a  canvas 
of  large  conception,  painted  with  more  colourful 
palette  than  the  artist  was  accustomed  to,  and  full 


328  XTbc  art  ot  tbc  fletberlan&  Galleries 

of  animation.  The  grayish  clouds  floating  against 
the  blue  sky  are  very  effective. 

The  portraits  are  by  Comelis  Janssen  van  Ceu- 
len,  J.  W.  Delff,  Jan  de  Baen,  Jacob  van  der 
Gracht,  the  only  one  in  any  public  gallery,  G.  van 
Honthorst,  Karel  de  Moor,  M.  Mierevelt,  A.  van 
den  Tempel,  and  four  large  group  paintings  by 
Jan  van  Ravesteyn,  who  was  the  favourite  painter 
in  his  time  of  the  Town  Council  and  of  fashionable 
society  of  The  Hague.  There  are  also  several  por- 
traits by  the  two  Vollevens,  the  last  portrait  paint- 
ers who  worked  in  the  beginning  of  the  i8th  cen- 
tury. 

Among  the  modern  paintings  we  find  the  prin- 
cipal artists  whom  we  have  studied  in  Amsterdam 
represented  by  characteristic  work.  In  no  case  do 
we  find  their  product  here  surpassing  that  which 
we  have  already  seen  of  their  brush.  There  are, 
however,  a  number  of  men,  most  of  The  Hague 
affiliation,  whose  pictures  will  be  new  to  us. 

To  begin  with  the  earliest  of  these  we  find  two 
creditable  portraits  by  Aart  Schouman.  City  views 
of  The  Hague  were  painted  by  the  three  brothers 
La  Fargue,  each  in  his  own  manner  giving  inter- 
esting vistas  and  corners  of  the  city,  as  it  was  in 
the  i8th  century.  The  portrait  of  a  "  Dominee," 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  The  Hague,  is  painted 
by  Albertus  Frese;    while  T.   Haag  depicted   the 


D.  A.  C. 
ARTZ 


BABY  ASLEEP 

Plate   XLii 
{See   page  rp.') 


Municipal  Museum 
Amsterdam 


Ube  t>ague  Galleries  329 

two  children  of  Prins  Willem  IV.  A  candle-light 
picture,  such  as  were  popular  in  those  times,  is  from 
the  brush  of  Cornelis  van  Cuylenburgh.  A  Por- 
trait, Flowers,  and  a  Cattle  piece  were  painted  by- 
different  members  of  the  van  Os  family.  Andreas 
Schelfhout  is  well  represented  with  a  half-dozen 
landscapes,  all  in  his  severe,  classic  style.  The 
"  Mauritshuis  "  is  pictured  by  Verheyen,  with  good 
architectural  effect ;  and  other  views  of  The  Hague 
are  furnished  by  the  elder  van  Hove;  whose  son 
Hubert  gives  us  an  interior  view  of  a  Synagogue. 
The  two  Krusemans,  Cornelis  and  Jan  Adam,  have 
each  portraits  —  thoroughly  in  accord  with  the 
stilted  style  of  their  day. 

The  two  beach  views  by  F.  B.  de  Groot  are  for- 
tunately of  his  later  period,  after  he  had  developed 
along  romantic  lines  into  a  capable  craftsman. 
The  portraits  by  H.  A.  de  Bloeme  hark  back  again 
to  the  early  part  of  the  19th  century  with  its  dead 
records.  C.  J.  Behr  gives  no  less  than  ten  views 
of  various  old  public  buildings  of  The  Hague; 
which  are  not  only  matters  of  record,  but,  as  they 
show  the  Bosboom  influence,  also  of  artistic  merit. 
J.  B.  Tom,  whose  "  children  at  play "  in  flowery 
landscapes  have  occasionally  been  seen  in  America, 
has  here  four  landscapes  with  cattle  and  sheqp. 
They  have  the  soft,  blurred  effect  which  is  char- 
acteristic of  this  artist.     Stroebel  has  a  large  "  In- 


330  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  •Retbeclan^  Galleries 

terior  of  the  17th  century,"  loose  in  drawing,  and 
of  agreeable  colour  scheme.  The  two  landscapes 
by  Jan  van  Borselen  are  harder  in  technic,  but  the 
two  canvases  by  Anthonie  Waldorp,  a  city  view  of 
Delft,  and  a  harbour  scene  of  Dordrecht,  are  on 
the  other  hand  softer  and  more  colourful.  The 
"  Invalids  of  the  Sea,"  by  Elchanon  Verveer,  has 
some  of  the  tendencies  to  which  Joseph  Israels  ad- 
hered at  first,  and  later  abandoned.  The  landscapes 
of  the  surroundings  of  Haarlem  by  Kluyver,  as 
well  as  the  marine  by  Gruyter,  are  of  the  same 
method,  the  Dusseldorf  —  which  was  the  worthy 
successor  of  the  old  David  academic,  with  a  dash 
of  romantic  colour.  J.  J.  van  der  Maaten  has 
greater  freedom,  and  commences  to  show  more 
atmospheric  effects  in  his  woodscapes,  in  which  he 
is  countenanced  by  the  two  brothers  van  Deventer 
—  J.  F.  in  landscape,  and  W.  A.  in  river  views. 
Hardenberg  is  well  worth  studying  in  his  animated 
"  Shipyard,"  that  has  several  good  points,  show- 
ing the  later  advances  that  have  made  the  modern 
Dutchmen  famous.  The  ten  Kates,  Mari  and  his 
son  J.  M.,  have  landscapes,  equally  progressive,  but 
missing  the  strength  of  the  present  school  through 
more  thought  for  sentimental  and  decorative  effect, 
than  for  genuine  feeling  and  atmosphere. 

The  number  of  landscapes,  there  are  more  than 
a  dozen,  by  Heppener,  have  the  same  defect,  until 


Ube  ijaQue  Oallertcs  331 

the  larger  view  is  becoming  apparent  in  the  ma- 
rines by  M.  F.  H.  de  Haas,  and  in  the  landscapes 
by  H.  J.  Weissenbruch.  J.  H.  L.  de  Haas  is  also 
progressive  in  his  landscapes  with  cattle,  albeit 
with  the  floridity  of  his  Flemish  brethren.  Taan- 
man  and  Henkes,  however,  go  back  to  the  scrupu- 
lous line,  in  their  genre  of  old  Dutch  types.  But 
in  the  work  of  Jan  Vrolyk,  ter  Meulen,  and  Willy 
Martens  the  school  which  Mauve  and  Jacob  Maris 
founded,  is  fully  exemplified.  The  "  Winter  in 
The  Hague  Wood,"  by  W.  B.  Tholen,  is  a  strong 
work  by  a  man  whose  development  has  of  late  been 
markedly  progressive.  The  youngest  artist  repre- 
sented in  this  gallery  is  Josselin  de  Jong,  of  whom 
we  find  two  portraits,  and  the  picture  of  a  "  Sleep- 
ing Boy."  These  are  painted  with  great  freedom 
of  brushwork,  and  indicate  the  knowledge  of  light 
and  colour  which  is  so  amply  demonstrated  in  his 
later  and  more  famous  factory  interiors. 

Among  the  works  of  the  artists,  whom  we  have 
already  studied  in  Amsterdam,  we  must  yet  acclaim 
a  magnificent  "  Beach  View,"  by  Jacob  Maris;  a 
scene  at  Scheveningen,  by  Anton  Mauve,  in  which 
a  number  of  horses  draw  the  heavy,  flat-bottomed 
fishing  boat  up  on  the  beach ;  a  beautiful  Bosboom, 
"  The  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Leyden ; "  and  an  un- 
usual painting  by  C.  Bisschop  of  fruits,  a  genre 
which  this  artist  not  often  followed. 


333  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  *letberlan&  Oallcries 

The  Museum  Mesdag 

The  men  who  have  made  the  modern  Dutch 
school  what  it  is,  as  well  as  the  younger  men  who 
are  carrying  on  its  fame  at  the  present  day  are 
worthily  represented  in  this  Gallery.  The  test  of 
excellence  of  this  modern  art-expression  is  nowhere 
in  Holland,  or  anywhere  else,  for  that  matter,  as 
thorough  as  it  is  in  the  Museum  Mesdag,  where  the 
best  of  Barbizon  paintings  are  alongside  of  those 
of  the  modern  Dutchmen.  The  perfect  harmony, 
the  art-relationship  between  the  two  schools  is  re- 
markably apparent. 

We  will  first  discuss  the  Barbizon  painters. 
Millet's  "  Hagar  and  Ishmael "  hangs  in  the  place 
of  honour  in  one  of  these  rooms.  To  me  this  is 
the  greatest  masterpiece  Millet  has  produced.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  painting  is  unfinished,  nota- 
bly one  of  the  feet  being  only  "  laid  in."  And  yet 
we  should  not  wish  another  touch  on  this  canvas, 
as  it  is  wrought  in  a  spontaneous  burst  of  inspira- 
tion, proclaiming  with  dramatic  force  the  genius 
of  its  creator  —  even  if  a  comer  was  overlooked. 
How  burning  hot  is  the  shrivelled,  coppery  desert; 
how  agonizing  the  contortion  of  Hagar,  turning 
away  so  that  "  she  should  not  see  the  child  die ;  '* 
with  what  startling  reality  lies  Ishmael,  with 
parched  lips,  for  dead.    Rarely  was  Millet  as  spar- 


Zbc  tagnc  Callerfes  333 

ing  of  his  colour  as  here.  The  canvas  is  a  quite 
reddish  brown  monochrome  —  but  subtle  tones 
float  through  that  colour,  and  here  and  there  a 
touch  of  contrast,  and  we  become  conscious  of 
vibration,  such  as  heat  makes  over  baked  earth, 
and  an  envelope  surrounds  these  figures,  as  thin 
as  the  tropical  atmosphere,  yet  visible  enough  to 
give  perspective,  and  set  these  figures  free.  The 
marvellous  skill  wherewith  the  brush  is  handled 
and  all  this  is  conjured  upon  the  canvas,  is  for- 
gotten under  the  spell  this  work  casts  over  us. 

A  small  canvas,  "  Wife  of  the  Fisherman,"  is 
also  found  here,  magnificent  in  colour,  with  sculp- 
turesque expression;  and  also  a  number  of  the 
famous  pastel  drawings  of  which  Millet  produced 
many  between  1864  and  1870,  to  serve  as  studies 
for  his  paintings. 

To  study  Corot  here,  is  a  revelation  of  this  ar- 
tist's many-sided  expressiveness.  Not  only  are 
there  his  grayish-green  morning  effects,  so  well- 
known,  but  we  find  also  a  large  study  of  "  Rocks," 
an  early  work  of  minute  execution ;  a  *'  Moon- 
light," rare  with  this  master,  but  which  for  trans- 
parent clearness  may  be  compared  with  a  fine  Aert 
van  der  Neer;  an  unusual  beach  view,  in  which 
the  pure  colours  of  the  shadowed  parts  are  beau- 
tifully reflected  in  the  water;  and  a  view  of  a  path 
in  the  woods,  in  positive  green  colours,  with  here 


334  ^t>c  Brt  ot  tbe  1Fletberlan&  Galleries 

and  there  a  sun-ray  illuminating  the  wood-interior. 

Daubigny  is  represented  by  no  less  than  twenty- 
five  examples.  His  Salon  picture  of  1864,  "  Vil- 
lerville-sur-Mer,"  one  of  the  most  important  of  the 
master's  works^  shows  a  heavily  clouded  sky  against 
which  a  few  cabins  are  silhouetted.  The  dunes  in 
the  foreground  and  a  glimpse  of  the  sea  on  the 
left  make  it  a  vast,  imposing  composition.  A  large 
canvas  (40  x  80)  is  called  "  Sunset."  Over  an 
extensive  landscape,  with  some  cattle,  we  see  the 
sun  disappearing  in  the  evening  mists,  bathing  the 
scene  with  a  brilliant,  yellow  light.  If  we  should 
enumerate  every  one  of  these  canvases  we  should 
have  well-nigh  covered  every  expression  of  the 
master's  genius.  His  tenderest  note  is  sounded  in 
his  moonlights.  Some  of  these  canvases  are  only 
"  lay-ins,"  yet  with  no  uncertain  voice  he  sings 
his  pastoral  song. 

The  Rousseau,  "  Cattle  descending  the  Juras," 
was  refused  for  the  Salon  of  1835,  but  shows  here 
as  one  of  his  greatest  works.  Although  too  much 
bitumen  has  caused  the  colour  to  darken  consider- 
ably, still  the  red  and  black  and  white  of  the  cattle 
blazes  fiery  through  the  brilliant  glazing.  The 
sketch  from  which  this  masterpiece  was  painted 
with  slight  variations  was  also  acquired.  The 
superb  strength  and  brilliancy  of  Rousseau  is  seen 
here  in  many  of  his  creations. 


Ube  Dague  (Balleries  335 

Courbet  is  represented  by  every  one  of  his  sub- 
jects, except  his  marines.  Rocky  landscapes  are 
seen  under  different  Hght  effects.  They  show 
plainly  the  use  Courbet  made  of  his  palette-knife 
to  lay  on  colour.  A  study  of  the  nude,  in  a  beau- 
tiful, rich  pate,  has  magnificent  morbidezza;  and 
Courbet's  proficiency  in  still  life  is  shown  by  a 
*'  Dead  Roe,"  hanging  against  a  tree  in  a  wood- 
interior,  and  by  some  apples,  which  he  painted 
while  in  the  prison  of  St.  Pelagic,  after  the  Com- 
mune. The  rocky  background  is  proof  that  the 
artist  did  not  always  paint  directly  from  nature, 
as  has  been  claimed.  A  self-portrait,  also  painted 
in  prison,  is  a  strong  performance. 

Nudes,  landscapes,  and  flowers  are  the  subjects 
of  Diaz.  They  are  not  in  the  facile,  "  pot-boiling  " 
style  which  has  made  many  of  this  artist's  works 
somewhat  common.  Those  here  have  been  selected 
with  an  artist's  eye  for  artistic  excellence.  The 
Jules  Dupres  are  equally  choice.  His  predilection 
for  stormy  sunsets  is  demonstrated,  and  his  technic, 
of  thick  impasto  and  overloaded  colour,  which  still 
retains  its  transparency  and  luminosity,  may  be 
studied  to  advantage.  Most  of  the  Troyons  were 
acquired  at  the  Vente  Troyon,  and  are  sketches, 
light  "  frottis,"  except  "  Le  Retour  du  Marche," 
which  is  thoroughly  digested,  and  succulent  with 
moist  atmosphere. 


336  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  •Wetberlan^  Gallertes 

Delacroix,  Gericault,  Decamps,  and  Couture,  the 
Romanticists,  are  represented  by  a  few  character- 
istic specimens  of  their  work.  We  see  Delacroix 
in  a  self-portrait  of  his  later  years.  His  "  Eve- 
ning after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,"  with  its  dead 
and  bleeding  horses  and  soldiers,  is  grim  and  im- 
pressive in  its  realism.  Of  Gericault  we  find  only 
a  few  snappy  studies  of  horses;  and  of  Decamps 
a  "  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena,"  a  "  Poacher,"  and 
"  Watchdogs "  —  only  this  last  with  his  well- 
known  tour-de- force  of  reflecting  light  on  white- 
plastered  walls.  Of  Couture,  who  did  not  produce 
much  work  after  his  first  great  success  with  "  The 
Romans  of  the  Decadence,"  we  find  a  study  head 
of  a  boy,  and  a  small  painting  of  a  lady  in  a  white 
costume,  holding  a  mask.  This  is  a  beautiful,  an 
exquisitely  refined  work. 

Michel's  four  landscapes  plainly  show  the  influ- 
ence the  old  Dutch  masters  exerted  over  this 
Frenchman ;  while  the  "  Harvest,"  by  Jules  Bre- 
ton, is  a  thoroughly  modern  French  product. 
Jacque  is  shown  in  his  three  characteristic  sub- 
jects, of  poultry,  a  landscape  with  sheep,  and  a 
pigsty;  but  of  van  Marcke,  of  whom  we  would 
expect  a  cattle  piece,  we  find  a  view  of  a  small 
town  on  the  French  coast,  with  fishing  boats,  "se- 
lected for  its  unusual  subject  and  its  artistic  appeal. 

The  still  lives  of  Antoine  Vollon  are  of  the  best 


s    a 


Ube  Daoue  Galleries  337 

this  artist  has  produced,  in  mellow  tone,  and  dex- 
terous touch.  Boulanger,  the  Belgian,  has  a  wood- 
interior,  full  of  feeling  for  the  beauty  of  nature, 
in  which  wood-cutters  are  sawing  big  beeches  and 
birches.  His  compatriot,  Verwee,  has  also  three 
landscapes  of  great  merit.  The  well-known  heads 
by  Mettling  gaze  at  us  from  three  little  panels.  Of 
Daumier  we  find  one  of  his  rare  oil  paintings,  on 
which  two  women,  surrounded  by  children,  are 
exchanging  neighbourly  confidences;  and  Hervier 
shows  one  of  his  landscapes,  which  might  be  called 
a  poetic  Rousseau.  The  genuine  Dutch  landscapes, 
by  the  Frenchman  Stengelin,  are  in  complete  ac- 
cord with  the  best  Weissenbruchs,  or  even  with 
Jacob  Maris. 

To  complete  the  foreigners  before  we  turn  to  the 
native  school  we  must  yet  note  three  fine  works 
by  Alma  Tadema,  one  being  a  portrait  of  his  wife 
in  Greek  costume;  and  also  a  fine  head  by  Mun- 
kacsy,  from  his  famous  "  The  last  Day  of  the  Con- 
demned." This  was  painted  in  the  artist's  best 
period,  shortly  before  his  "  Milton."  An  interest- 
ing sketch  by  John  Sargent,  of  three  Orientals  in 
white  and  blue  garments,  is  found  here;  two 
gouaches  by  Segantini,  the  most  serious  of  modern 
Italians,  show  his  great  power  in  landscape  art; 
and  fifteen  examples  of  the  eccentric  Mancini  give 
the  greatest  diversity  of  subject  and  manner  of 
treatment. 


338  Ube  art  of  tbe  "netberlan^  Galleries 

The  national  school  is  represented  at  its  best. 
Mesdag  himself  can  never  be  appreciated  in  the 
fulness  of  his  power,  except  here.  This  painter's 
easy  temporal  affairs  enable  him  to  refuse  to  part 
with  what  he  deems  his  best  work.  These  choice 
products  of  his  masterful  brush  he  has  placed  in 
this  museum.  They  form  a  round  dozen,  most 
of  these  presenting  the  ocean  in  his  various  moods, 
with  wonderful  cloud  and  light  effects  in  the  sky- 
painting.  Two  harbour  views,  of  Flushing  and 
of  Enkhuizen,  are  in  the  number.  Mrs.  Mesdag- 
van  Houten  has  likewise  donated  her  best  work. 
There  are  specimens  of  her  heath  pictures,  full  of 
poetic  melancholy;  of  her  still  lives  with  intense 
feeling  for  colour;   and  a  few  creditable  portraits. 

As  to  the  other  Dutch  artists,  we  may  well  claim 
that  no  collection  can  be  regarded  as  representative 
of  the  work  of  the  different  painters  as  this  one. 
Museums  often  receive  paintings  by  bequest  or 
loan,  of  dubious  testimony  to  the  artist's  merit  or 
the  benefactor's  judgment.  All  the  pictures  of  the 
Museum  Mesdag  have  been  selected  by  one  of  the 
most  competent  judges,  and  we  readily  abide  by 
his  criterion.  This  we  perceive  with  the  work  of 
the  three  Maris  brothers.  Of  Jacob  we  find  one 
of  his  best  mill  pictures,  a  beach  view,  two  city 
views,  an  interior  in  the  genre  of  de  Hooch,  and 
two  figure  subjects  —  a  complete  resume  of  this 


Ube  fjague  Galleries  339 

master's  metier.  Of  Thys  Maris  we  find  examples 
of  his  first  well-finished  work,  and  of  his  later 
dream-pictures,  so-called.  Willem  Maris,  again, 
displays  the  fulness  of  his  power  in  his  sunny  land- 
scapes with  cattle. 

There  are  fourteen  examples  of  Anton  Mauve, 
in  oil  and  water  colour,  from  his  earliest  method 
to  his  ripest  proficiency.  Joseph  Israels  contrib- 
utes a  portrait  of  the  donor,  some  excellent  figure 
pieces,  and  an  "  Alone  in  the  World,"  that  is  one 
of  the  finest  creations  of  the  Nestor  of  the  Dutch 
school.  The  colour  and  tone,  the  softly  entering 
light,  the  penetrating  sentiment,  show  marvellous 
quality. 

The  gallery  is  rich  in  Bosbooms  of  force  and 
character.  The  "  Church  at  Alkmaar  "  is  the  last 
word  in  water-colour  painting.  The  "  Synagogue  " 
is  a  magnificent,  Rembrandtesque  panel,  with 
transparent  shadows.  Several  other  artists,  whom 
we  have  met  in  Amsterdam  and  in  the  municipal 
museum  of  this  city,  are  here  represented  by  can- 
vases of  higher  artistic  quality  than  we  have  seen 
thus  far.  These  are  Artz,  Roelofs,  notably  J.  H. 
Weissenbruch,  and  further  Gabriel,  Henkes,  Blom- 
mers,  and  Bauer. 

Beside  these  we  find  a  denary  of  new  names. 
Geraldine  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen,  one  of  the  best 
Dutch  flower  painters,  has  a  charming  basket  with 


340  XCbe  art  of  tbe  'Hetberlant)  (Balleries 

white  roses  and  grasses.  Storm  van  's  Gravesande, 
the  famous  etcher^  has  a  strong,  broadly  treated 
charcoal  drawing  of  the  harbour  of  Hamburg. 
Steelink  and  van  der  Weele  are  devotees  of  the 
Mauve  genre,  and  obtain  creditable  results,  as  here 
shown.  Wysmuller  has  a  characteristic  Winter 
scene,  with  a  luminous  sky.  Zilcken,  the  etcher, 
besides  showing  a  product  of  the  burin,  depicts  a 
typical  Scheveningen  Fisherman;  Willem  de  Zwart 
an  animated  scene  from  that  fisher  village  when 
the  "  pinks,"  or  fishing  boats,  are  drawn  from  the 
water  for  the  winter.  A  little  study  head  of  a 
Spanish  girl  is  by  Paul  Rink,  who  died  in  the  ful- 
ness of  promise.  A  black-crayon  sketch,  by  Too- 
rop,  is  only  mentioned  to  call  attention  to  a  man 
of  singular  individuality.  The  work  by  Isaac  Is- 
raels, "  Trumpeters  in  the  Barracks,"  is  in  his 
earliest  manner,  and  gives  by  no  means  a  just  idea 
of  the  breadth  and  character  this  artist  has  reached 
at  the  present  time. 

The  lower  floor  of  the  Museum  Mesdag  is  filled 
with  Oriental  treasures  and  other  ohjets  d'art, 
which  could  make  one  linger  for  many  hours. 

Before  leaving  The  Hague,  I  would  still  call 
attention  to  "  Het  Huis  ten  Bosch,"  or  "The 
House  in  the  Woods,"  the  old  summer  palace  of 
the  Princes  of  Orange,  dating  from  1647,  but  now 
rarely  occupied. 


Zbc  "fcaoue  Galleries  341 

The  "  Oranje  Zaal  "  is  worthy  of  a  visit,  as  it 
contains  a  magnificent  wall  decoration  by  Jacob 
Jordaens,  allegorizing  "  The  Triumph  of  Prins 
Frederik  Hendrik,"  in  whose  honour  the  palace 
was  built  by  his  widow  Amalia  van  Solms.  Caesar 
van  Everdingen  painted  an  allegory  on  "  The  Birth 
of  the  Prince,"  which  is  badly  composed  and  of 
Italian  imitation.  Theodoor  van  Tulden  depicted 
in  symbolic  manner  the  early  years  of  the  Prince, 
his  education,  the  conferring  upon  him  the  digni- 
ties and  powers,  etc.  Gerard  van  Honthorst  alle- 
gorized the  marriage  of  Frederik  Hendrik  with 
Amalia  van  Solms. 

The  ceiling  is  decorated  with  mythological 
themes  by  Grebber,  "  The  Car  of  Apollo,"  and 
by  van  Honthorst,  "  The  Car  of  Venus," 

The  Collection  of  Baron  Victor  de  Steurs  con- 
tains several  interesting  examples  of  the  17th  cen- 
tury artists,  all  of  whom  we  have  studied.  A  few 
of  these  are,  however,  better  than  those  we  have 
met  thus  far.  There  is,  for  instance,  an  exceed- 
ingly fine  Nature  Morte,  by  Pieter  Claesz.,  and  an- 
other of  equal  quality  by  Willem  Kalff ;  character- 
istic presentations  of  the  lower  regions  to  which 
Pieter  Breughel,  the  Younger,  owes  his  name  of 
"  Hellish  "  Breughel ;  an  interior,  showing  three 
young  women  with  their  escorts  ready  to  sit  down 
at  a  repast,  by  Dirk  Hals ;   and  a  rare  "  Christ  and 


342  XTbe  Hrt  ot  tbe  laetberlanC)  Galleries 

the  Holy  Virgin,"  by  the  early  Cornelisz.  van  Oost- 
sanen.  One  of  Jurriaan  Pool's  portraits  of  his 
wife,  Rachel  Ruysch,  is  also  found  here;  and  an 
excellent  portrait  of  a  young  girl,  by  Ravesteyn. 

Among  the  old  paintings  in  the  M.  des  Tombes 
Collection  is  a  beautiful  Vermeer  van  Delft,  a  por- 
trait of  a  young  girl;  a  fine  winter  landscape  by 
Esaias  van  de  Velde;  and  works  by  Mierevelt  and 
Govert  Flinck. 

In  the  Collection  of  Prince  Frederik  Hendrik 
we  must  note  one  of  the  few  Italian  paintings  in 
Holland,  a  Madonna  with  the  Child  and  St,  John, 
by  Fra  Bartolommeo ;  two  good  portraits  by  Nic. 
Maes;  and  a  large  corporation  piece  of  the  Guild 
of  Wine-provers,  by  Ferdinand  Bol,  of  superior 
excellence. 

The  Steengracht  Collection  contains  among  its 
old  masters  a  few  works  that  should  not  be  passed, 
because  they  rival  in  interest  any  found  in  the 
larger  museums.  Of  the  lesser  artists  we  note  an 
Adriaen  Brouwer,  in  the  manner  of  Frans  Hals, 
showing  a  company  of  "  Smokers,"  with  great  ex- 
pressiveness and  characterization.  Philip  de  Cham- 
paigne  portrays  Marie  Mancini,  a  painting  that  has 
come  from  a  Bourbon  collection,  and  is  a  noble 
work  of  great  refinement.  A  cattle  piece,  by  Adam 
Pynacker;  an  Italian  landscape,  by  Jacob  van  der 
Ulft;    a    scriptural    subject,    by    Hendrik    Sorgh, 


Ubc  "fcaoue  Galleries  343 

illustrating  the  parable  of  "  The  Master  paying  his 
Servants;"  and  a  "Smoker,"  by  Arie  de  Vois. 
These  paintings,  although  not  of  the  highest  order, 
will  still  contribute  to  accord  their  authors  their 
proper  place.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  genre 
by  Dirk  van  Delen,  "  The  Lawyer's  Waiting- 
room,"  with  figures  by  Palamedes. 

The  gems  of  the  collection  are  three  notable 
works  by  Metsu.  "  The  Sick  Child  "  was  painted 
in  1656  in  the  highest  development  of  his  talent. 
In  this  he  surpasses  any  of  his  other  works  by  the 
largeness  in  which  he  renders  a  homely  scene  on 
such  a  small  scale.  The  picture  shows  a  little  four 
or  five  year  old,  wan  by  sickness,  held  on  mother's 
lap.  The  softness  of  outline,  the  high-lights  on 
the  woman's  forehead  and  on  the  bare  legs  of  the 
child,  the  envelope  which  detaches  the  figures  from 
the  background,  the  lovely  colour  —  all  this  pro- 
duces here  a  chef-d'oeuvre. 

Pieter  de  Hooch  has  an  interior  of  his  second 
period,  in  which  the  contrasts  between  dark  and 
light  are  more  and  more  accentuated,  even  to  the 
extreme.  The  figures,  painted  black  on  black,  are 
hardly  to  be  distinguished,  and  yet  the  shimmer  of 
light  makes  us  penetrate  even  the  farthest  corners. 

Rembrandt's  "  Bathsheba,  after  her  bath,  spied 
upon  by  King  David,"  is  a  variation  of  his  Su- 
sanna, of  the  Mauritshuis,  but  this  work  is  much 


344  ^be  art  ot  tbe  'Ketberlant)  Galleries 

the  finer  of  the  two.  According  to  Vosmaer  it 
was  painted  in  1643,  the  year  after  the  "  Night 
Watch,"  and  its  chiaroscuro,  with  the  nude  figure 
standing  in  exquisite  rehef  against  the  background, 
is  of  supreme  mastery.  This  figure  is  of  surpass- 
ing beauty,  and  the  ideahzation  in  slender  grace  of 
all  the  Susannas  the  master  ever  portrayed.  The 
harmony  of  tints,  violet,  brown,  green,  yellow- 
ochre,  in  a  general  golden  atmosphere,  give  it  a 
warm  poetic,  mysterious  tone  with  glittering  glaze. 
It  is  a  splendid  work  of  the  great  master. 

One  room  of  the  patrician  mansion  in  which  this 
collection  is  housed  is  devoted  to  modern  masters, 
among  whom  we  may  note  a  Gerome,  "  Scene  in 
the  Desert ;  "  a  Horace  Vernet,  "  The  Last  Car- 
tridge;" one  of  Bougnereau,  "Girl  Knitting;" 
and  a  Meissonier,  "  Soldiers  playing  Cards." 
There  are  also  pictures  by  David  Bles,  "  By  the 
Cradle;"  by  Schelfhout,  "Winter  Scene;"  and 
a  "  Forest  View,"  by  B.  C.  Koekkoek. 


s  s 


Co 

a: 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   HAARLEM    GALLERIES 

The  Municipal  Museum 

Some  three  hundred  paintings  by  the  17th  cen- 
tury masters,  and  a  hundred  old  portraits  by  un- 
known painters,  form  the  important  collection  of 
this  Museum,  of  which  Frans  Hals  is  the  bright 
star. 

Eight  large  militia  and  regents  pieces,  and  two 
single  portraits  are  from  the  brush  of  the  great 
Haarlem  master.  The  single  portraits  are  life- 
size  knee-pieces  of  Nicolaes  van  der  Meer,  Burgo- 
master of  Haarlem,  and  of  his  wife.  The  Burgo- 
master is  standing  with  his  hand  on  the  back  of 
an  arm-chair.  His  expression  of  dignified  self- 
consciousness,  the  keen  eye,  the  sculpturesque  head, 
make  this  a  vital  presentment.  The  thoroughly 
artistic  effort  of  the  rich,  but  delicate  colouring, 
in  which  a  light-gray  tone  prevails,  is  carried  to 
the  nick  of  perfection,  and  no  farther.  The  por- 
trait of  his  wife  is  of  equal  significance.     She  is 

J4o 


346  Ube  art  ot  tbe  laetberlant)  (Ballertes 

seated  in  a  fauteuil,  with  black  dress,  relieved  by 
white  cuffs  and  cap.  It  is  a  face  full  of  breeding 
and  dignity,  yet  kindly  withal.  Those  portraits 
date  from  1631,  when  the  artist  was  in  the  prime 
of  his  powers. 

The  eight  group  paintings  are  displayed  on  the 
walls  in  chronological  order,  and  were  painted  in 
1616,  two  in  1627,  one  in  1633,  1639,  1641,  and 
two  in  1664.  It  will  be  seen  that  an  exact  review 
may  be  had  of  the  master's  development,  such  as 
is  rarely  vouchsafed.  From  the  first  to  the  last 
this  princely  painter  displays  his  past-mastership  in 
the  art  of  handling  the  brush  and  conjuring  with 
the  pigment.  His  free  and  open  grouping,  the 
unconscious  attitudes  of  his  figures,  the  perfect 
interpretation  of  character  with  almost  necroman- 
tic power  —  it  all  causes  his  genius  to  reach  the 
apogee  of  art. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  select  any  one  of  these 
paintings  above  the  others.  They  all  have  the  same 
characteristics.  Five  of  these  eight  groups  are 
civic  guard  officers,  gathered  in  conclave  or  at  the 
festive  board,  and  the  apparently  haphazard  man- 
ner of  gathering  them  within  the  frame,  is  in  all 
done  with  marvellous  invention  and  with  equal  suc- 
cess. The  colour  may  vary  according  to  the  period, 
the  brushing  may  be  broader  or  with  less  impasto 
—  the  general  result  of  paramount  magnificence 
is  equally  obtained. 


JLbc  Daarlem  ©alleries  347 

If  any  choice  must  be  made,  we  will,  perhaps, 
acclaim  the  gathering  of  fourteen  officers  of  the 
corps  of  St.  Andrew  in  the  garden  of  the  Cul- 
veniers  Doelen  (Plate  VII),  the  most  puissant  of 
all.  It  is  the  noblest,  the  most  substantial,  the  most 
abounding  performance,  and  was  painted  in  1633. 
These  men  stand  in  air,  one  can  walk  around  them, 
their  attitudes  are  such  that  they  belong  to  the 
company  of  spectators  as  much  as  to  each  other. 
The  painting  has  been  done  with  incomparable  ease, 
without  hesitation  or  correction,  au  premier  coup, 
with  exact  touches  without  apparent  relation,  yet 
all  melting  together,  producing  the  decisive  effect 
of  nature  itself. 

The  men  who  officered  this  company  five  or  six 
years  earlier,  in  1627,  were  painted  by  Hals  in 
that  year  as  they  were  gathered  around  the  ban- 
quet table.  The  even  light  in  the  room  does  not 
give  any  play  of  chiaroscuro,  but  our  eyes  are  ob- 
sessed by  the  beauty  of  tones,  the  suppleness  of 
tints,  the  value  of  colours,  and  the  canvas  becomes 
altogether  marvellous. 

The  three  regent  pieces  are  less  audacious  in 
colour  scheme,  but  no  less  magic  in  charm.  The 
one  of  1 64 1,  with  the  five  Regents  of  the  St.  Elisa- 
beth Hospital,  denotes  clearly  Rembrandt's  influ- 
ence in  its  light  and  shade,  which  is  again  less  visi- 
ble in  the  other  two,  painted  in  1664,  depicting  the 


348  XLbc  Brt  of  tbe  "Retberlant)  (Balleries 

authorities  of  the  "  Old  Men's  Home."  The  oc- 
togenarian master  shows  no  feebleness,  no  dimin- 
ishing power,  no  decrepitude  in  his  facile  touch, 
his  eye  is  not  dimmed  to  the  purity  and  brilliancy 
of  colour.  With  summary  strokes  he  portrays  — 
and  these  are  human  documents  with  which  he 
speaks  the  last  words  of  his  genius.  In  all  these 
works,  even  in  the  single  portraits,  Hals  conveys 
the  spirit  of  his  time  and  the  character  of  his  peo- 
ple —  not  by  striving  for  a  deceptive  resemblance 
through  trifling  externalities,  but  by  stamping  his 
characters  with  those  spiritual  peculiarities  which 
his  keen  insight  perceived.  In  this  respect  Hals 
is  the  greatest  of  portrait  painters. 

The  other  military  group  paintings  suffer  nat- 
urally by  comparison.  Grebber,  Comelis  van  Haar- 
lem, Pot,  nor  Soutman  ever  reached  the  height 
which  Hals  attained.  The  two  first-named  were, 
however,  anterior  to  Hals,  and  worthily  declaim 
original  conception  of  great  merit.  The  "  Arch- 
ers' Banquet,"  by  Cornells  van  Haarlem,  is  con- 
sidered this  artist's  masterpiece.  Grebber's  son 
Pieter  has  here  two  large  canvases  in  which  it 
is  curious  to  note  how  easily  a  susceptible  artist 
may  be  influenced  by  other  men.  His  painting  of 
"  Barbarossa  and  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  "  — 
adding  the  sword  and  the  cross  to  the  coat  of  arms 
of  Haarlem  in  recognition  of  the  Haarlem  Knight- 


tibe  Ibaarlem  Galleries  349 

Templars,  who  had  contributed  most  to  the  con- 
quest of  Damiata  —  shows  plainly  in  colour  and 
treatment  the  influence  of  Rubens;  while  his 
"  Prophet  Elisha  refusing  the  presents  of  Naaman 
of  Syria,"  is  in  its  light  effect  frankly  an  imitation 
of  the  Italian  method  of  Pinas  and  Lastman. 

The  group  paintings  of  persons  in  civil  life,  by 
van  Anraadt,  Jan  de  Bray,  Jakob  van  Loo,  and 
Verspronck,  are  clear,  plain  statements  of  facts, 
with  an  honest  intent  to  depict  the  physiognomy 
of  the  sitters  truthfully.  Verspronck,  in  his  "  Four 
Lady-Regents  of  the  Holy  Ghost  House,"  searches 
too  much  for  effect  in  the  pose  of  the  hands,  but 
is  altogether  admirable  in  his  fine  and  spirited  han- 
dling. Van  Loo  was  apparently  inspired  by  van 
der  Heist,  with  the  addition  of  Rembrandt's  chiar- 
oscuro. 

There  are  also  single  portraits  to  be  found  by 
Ludolph  de  Jong,  Jan  Victors,  and  Nicolaas  Maes. 
A  small  family  group  is  by  Terborch. 

Dispersed  among  these  many  portraits  we  find 
some  interesting  genre  paintings.  A  "  Farm  Inte- 
rior," by  the  younger  Frans  Hals,  is  representative 
of  his  work;  while  Dusart  has  a  scene  of  wassail 
at  an  inn;,  and  J.  M.  Molenaer  draws  a  picturesque 
Flemish  wedding.  Pieter  de  Molyn,  in  the  "  Pil- 
lage and  Burning  of  a  Village,"  departs  from  his 
usual  van  Goyen  style  of  landscape.     Of  Willem 


3SO  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  'WetberlanD  ©alleries 

Kool  we  find  here  his  only  example  in  the  Nether- 
land  Galleries,  a  well-painted  "  Fishmarket."  One 
of  the  finest  Adriaan  Brouwers,  "  The  Interior  of 
an  Inn,"  dates  from  his  Hals  period.  The  standing 
figure  is  not  quite  satisfactory  in  drawing,  but  the 
seated  ones,  and  especially  the  display  of  features, 
are  to  be  compared  favourably  with  the  works  of 
Hals  himself.  "  The  Flemish  Proverbs,"  which 
goes  by  the  name  of  "  Hellish  "  Breughel,  is  a  copy 
of  this  master's  work,  the  original  being  lost.  It 
is  so  good  a  copy  that  for  many  years  it  was  re- 
garded as  the  original.  It  displays  to  a  remarkable 
extent  the  droll  ingenuity  of  this  artist  to  represent 
in  little  scenes  more  than  eighty  of  the  colloquial 
sayings  of  his  time.  All  relation  of  perspective  and 
of  figures  is  of  course  alien  to  this  jumble  of  varie- 
gated humanity,  but  the  witty  genius  of  the  artist 
is  unmistakable.  Views  of  the  Haarlem  of  the  17th 
century  are  given  by  Adriaen  van  de  Velde,  by 
Berckheyden,  and  by  Allert  van  Everdingen.  The 
only  work  in  the  Dutch  galleries  by  the  earliest 
marine  painter,  Hendrik  Vroom,  displays  here 
"The  Arrival  of  Leycester  at  Flushing  in  1586." 
It  is  a  large  canvas  of  indubitable  merit,  consid- 
ering the  early  period  in  which  the  artist  painted. 
His  contemporary  Pieter  Aertsen  has  "  The  Three 
young  Men  in  the  fiery  Furnace,"  which  is  awk- 
wardly composed,  but  has  some  attractive  qualities. 


Ube  t)aarlem  Galleries  351 

The  earliest  paintings  are  by  Maerten  van  Heems- 
kerck  and  van  Scorel.  Van  Heemskerck  has  a  "  St. 
Luke  painting  the  Virgin,"  in  diptych,  painted  be- 
fore the  artist's  departure  for  Rome,  and  displays 
local  characteristics,  even  in  this  early  Christian  art. 
His  triptych,  of  later  date,  is  thoroughly  Italianized, 
but  possesses  qualities  of  rich  colour,  which  have 
induced  many  to  acclaim  him  as  a  forerunner  of 
Rubens.  Jan  van  Scorel  is  represented  by  three 
panels.  His  "  Adam  and  Eve,"  "  The  Baptism 
of  Christ,"  and  a  group  painting  of  the  Crusaders 
in  the  Holy  Land,  are  characteristic  of  his  manner 
and  method. 

The  Teyler  Museum 

The  important  collection  of  drav^rings  and  etch- 
ings in  this  museum  is  its  chief  factor  of  interest. 
There  are  thousands  of  these  products  of  the  crayon 
and  burin  by  the  foremost  of  the  old  and  modem 
masters.  The  oil  paintings  and  water  colours, 
which  have  been  added,  are  all  from  the  beginning 
and  middle  of  the  last  century.  They  have  been 
well  selected,  and  offer  admirable  testimony  to  the 
merit  of  the  men  represented. 

We  find  of  J.  C.  Schotel  a  strong  marine,  a 
"  Storm  at  Sea,"  with  a  half-wrecked  three-master 
rolling  in  the  trough.  Louis  Meyer  selected  the 
same  turbulent  view.     Mesdag's  sea-piece,  hanging 


352  trbe  Hrt  of  tbe  "fletberlant)  Gallertcs 

near,  is  all  calm  and  peaceful,  with  a  brilliant  eve- 
ning sky.  Anthonie  Waldorp  has  also  quiet,  trans- 
parent water  in  his  two  river  views.  Andreas 
Schelfhout  gives  a  beach  view  at  Katwyk,  and  also 
one  of  his  usual  winter  landscapes;  and  J.  H.  L. 
de  Haas,  the  dunes  on  the  island  of  Terschelling 
with  fishing-pinks  on  the  distant  sea,  and  cattle 
grazing  the  thin  pasturage.  Heemskerck  van 
Beest's  sea  view  shows  the  Isle  of  Wight  in  the 
distance  like  a  heavy  gray  mass  looming  on  the 
horizon;  and  W.  A.  van  Deventer  has  the  ocean 
in  the  last  throes  of  a  departed  storm,  while  vari- 
ous figures  on  the  beach  are  coming  or  going  to 
collect  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  the  wreck  in  the 
foreground.  S.  L.  Verveer  shows  a  number  of 
fisherfolk  on  the  lookout  for  the  approaching  pinks. 
J.  L.  Comet  depicted  the  touching  farewell  of  Ad- 
miral de  Ruyter  from  his  family,  on  leaving  for 
the  naval  conflict  which  the  sea-hero  felt  was  to 
be  his  fatal  journey. 

Three  of  the  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen  family  are 
represented.  The  oldest  one,  Hendrik,  with  a  land- 
scape, in  the  manner  of  the  year  in  which  it  was 
painted,  1826.  J.  J.  van  de  Sande  Bakhuyzen  has 
a  view  in  the  old  part  of  The  Hague,  and  one  of 
the  mediaeval  castles  which  are  still  found  in  Hol- 
land, the  "  House  Oudaen  near  Breukelen."  His 
sister  Gerardina  shows  a  basket  of  roses  with  beau- 


Zbc  Ibaarlem  Galleries  353 

tiful  realism.  H.  J.  Scholten  has  a  company  of 
itinerant  acrobats,  camping  on  their  way  to  the 
next  "  Kermis."  Two  other  genres  by  this  artist 
are  in  the  conventional  Dusseldorf  manner,  as  is 
Koekkoek's  "  Summer  Landscape."  The  two  van 
Hoves  are  represented  by  examples  of  their  classic 
genre. 

Jos.  Israels  may  be  seen  here  by  an  example  of 
his  middle  or  transition  period  from  the  severe 
classic  to  his  broad  style.  "  Sheep  on  the  Heath," 
by  Mauve,  is  of  the  most  popular  of  this  master's 
genre ;  while  Bosboom's  "  Church  at  Edam  "  is  a 
personal  performance  in  his  characteristic  vein. 
The  two  Weissenbruchs,  Louis  Apol,  van  der 
Weele,  Allebe,  Bastert,  Gabriel,  Gorter,  Roelofs, 
Henkes,  Sadee,  and  Ronner  are  all  represented  with 
characteristic  examples,  while  several  earlier  artists 
may  also  be  studied.  These  are  Bakker-Korff, 
C.  Bisschop,  Bles,  P.  F.  Greive,  Stroebel,  Ver- 
schuur,  Herman  ten  Kate,  the  Krusemans,  the 
Pienemans,  Springer,  and  Stortenbeker. 

A  room  is  set  apart  for  water  colour  paintings 
by  Mesdag,  Israels,  Willem  Maris,  Apol,  Allebe, 
Rochussen,  Bosboom,  and  Mauve. 


CHAPTER    XIV 

LEYDEN,    UTRECHT   AND   ROTTERDAM 

The  Lakenhal  at  Leyden 

A  NUMBER  of  excellent  paintings,  principally  of 
Leyden  masters,  are  dispersed  among  the  multi- 
farious exhibits  which  this  museum,  devoted  to 
local  history,  contains.  It  is  impossible  to  direct 
the  visitor  to  the  different  rooms  where  they  may 
be  found,  for  the  large  picture  gallery  on  the 
ground  floor  is  often  depleted  of  its  contents  for 
special  exhibitions.  Since  the  important  paintings 
are  not  very  numerous,  and  all  have  tablets  at- 
tached, it  will  serve  our  purpose  to  enumerate  them 
in  chronological  order. 

The  earliest  painter  is  Comelis  Engelbrechtsz. 
of  whom  two  triptychs  are  preserved,  "  Christ  on 
the  Cross  "  and  "  The  Descent  of  the  Cross."  The 
centre  panel  of  the  "  Christ  on  the  Cross  "  offers 
a  scene  of  conventional  arrangement,  but  is  ex- 
ceedingly interesting  in  that  it  foreshadows  the 
manner  in  which  certain  characteristics  were  being 

354 


Xei?&en,  xatrccbt  ant)  IRotterDam     355 

ingrafted  on  the  special  qualities  of  the  successors 
of  the  van  Eycks.  The  figures,  here,  are  hard  and 
dry,  their  motions  violent  and  angular,  and  only 
the  group  of  women  in  the  foreground  present  an 
impression  of  sweet  calm  which  is  touching  by  con- 
trast. This  impartial  presentation  of  the  darker 
side  of  human  passions,  together  with  their  gentler 
side  for  the  sake  of  truthful  realism  is  the  step 
which  advances  the  Northern  followers  over  their 
Flemish  brethren. 

The  famous  "  Last  Judgment,"  by  Lukas  van 
Leiden  (Plate  II),  is  one  of  the  few  works  which 
escaped  the  Image  Storm,  and  one  of  the  strongest 
examples  of  early  North-Netherland  art.  Em- 
peror Rudolf  II  offered  for  it  a,  for  that  time, 
fabulous  sum  in  gold,  but  local  pride  did  not  allow 
this  product  from  a  fellow  citizen  to  leave  the  city. 
The  centre  panel  of  this  triptych  shows  a  unique 
arrangement  of  the  figures,  such  as  no  Italian  mas- 
ter ever  conceived.  The  Judge,  sitting  upon  the 
clouds,  has  on  either  side  groups  of  patriarchs  and 
apostles.  On  the  lower  half  of  the  composition  a 
number  of  figures  are  scattered  over  a  vast  earth- 
plane,  which  in  drawing  and  movement  indicate  the 
separation  that  has  taken  place  "  between  the  sheep 
and  the  goats."  The  naive  and  gentle  drawing  of 
the  nude  figures  surpasses  anything  in  early  Italian 
art,  from  Cimabue  to  Botticelli. 


356  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  laetberlanO  Galleries 

Of  the  early  painter  of  militia  groups,  Joris  van 
Schooten,  there  are  six  paintings  of  groups  of 
officers.  These  are  simply  attempts  at  portrai- 
ture, where  each  person  stands  alone,  without  any 
thought  of  cohesion  among  the  several  parts.  Still 
van  Schooten  was  master  of  excellent  colour,  thor- 
ough handling,  and  lifelike  presentation.  A  por- 
trait of  a  man,  by  Caesar  van  Everdingen,  is  of 
little  interest,  but  Bol's  portrait  of  one  of  the  Ley- 
den  officials,  Pieter  Burgersdyk,  is  one  of  the  art- 
ist's best  performances. 

It  seems  strange  that  only  two  unimportant 
works  should  be  here  of  the  great  Leyden  painter 
Jan  Steen.  These  are  one  of  his  rare  biblical  scenes, 
and  the  portrait  of  a  young  sculptor,  modelling  a 
child's  head  in  clay.  A  Regent  piece,  said  to  be  by 
Beeldemaker,  is  of  doubtful  origin,  and  not  worthy 
of  this  artist.  Dominicus  van  Tol  has  a  small  panel 
with  an  attractive  genre  in  which  an  old  granny  is 
preparing  dinner,  being  surrounded  by  the  little 
ones.  A  portrait  of  a  physician,  by  Jan  de  Baen, 
and  a  Regent  piece,  by  Karel  de  Moor,  complete 
our  review. 

The  Lakenhal  did  not,  however,  receive  all  the 
paintings  belonging  to  the  commonwealth,  for  in 
the  City  Hall  of  Leyden  we  still  find  Karel  de 
Moor's  famous  "  Judgment  of  Brutus,"  together 
with  allegories  by  Ferdinand  Bol  and  by  Jan 
Lievcns. 


Xei^Den,  "Gltrecbt  an&  IRotterbam      357 

The  Archiepiscopal  Museum  of  Utrecht 

Among  the  few  paintings  in  this  Gallery  we  find 
the  earliest  example  of  Dutch  Art  in  a  triptych, 
"  Calvary,"  by  Geertgen  van  St.  Jans,  which  has 
"  The  Holy  Family  "  in  a  landscape  on  the  centre 
panel,  and  the  two  donors  on  the  wings.  A  "  Ma- 
donna with  the  Child,"  by  Ugolino  da  Sienna,  is 
still  earlier,  and  partakes  of  the  Byzantinism,  which 
held  sway  prior  to  the  great  revolution  in  painting 
initiated  by  Giotto. 

Cornells  van  Oostsanen  has  painted  a  triptych, 
"  The  Adoration  of  the  Magi,"  in  which  he  depicts 
the  figures  in  the  costumes  of  his  countrymen,  and 
the  landscape  as  he  saw  it  about  him  in  the  Low 
Countries.  Jan  van  Scorel  conceived  a  "  Pieta " 
in  triptych  in  which  the  dead  body  of  the  Christ  is, 
however,  not  supported  by  the  Virgin,  but  by  the 
first  person  of  the  Trinity.  Another  panel  by  this 
artist  shows  an  unique  portrayal  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child. 

Several  paintings  by  unknown  artists  of  the  15th 
and  1 6th  century  Dutch  school,  of  the  school  of 
Leyden,  of  the  school  of  Florence,  and  of  the  i6th 
century  Flemish  school  are  important  enough  to 
tempt  the  experts  for  attributions. 


358  Ubc  Hrt  ot  tbe  "Wetberlan^  aalleries 

The  Museum  "  Kunstliefde "  in  Utrecht 

This  collection  of  paintings  is  chiefly  noteworthy 
for  the  number  of  works  it  contains  of  early 
Utrecht  masters,  the  chief  of  whom  is  Jan  van 
Scorel.  A  still  earlier  painter,  however,  was  Jeroen 
Bosch,  of  whom  we  find  a  "  Temptation  of  St.  An- 
thony." This  work  was  brought  to  light  in  1830, 
when  the  ramparts  of  the  city  were  demolished  and 
it  was  discovered  that  these  had  been  built  over  the 
ruins  of  a  convent.  For  centuries  this  little  panel 
had  been  hermetically  sealed  between  brick  walls. 
The  tantalizing  pleasures  which  surround  the  hermit 
are  not  as  vulgarly  displayed  as  later  artists  are  wont 
to  depict  them.  The  most  authentic  work  by  Jan  van 
Scorel  is  his  triptych  altar-piece  showing  the  family 
Vischer  van  der  Geer  as  donors  before  the  Virgin 
and  Child.  This  work  has  been  accepted  as  the 
standard  to  study  this  old  master's  technic.  The 
garments  and  the  landscape  are  in  heavy  impasto, 
the  shadows  are  simply  hatched,  the  flesh  colour  is 
light  and  fluflfy.  Here  and  there  the  outlines  of  the 
first  crayon  drawing  show  through  the  colour, 
which  is  unusually  brilliant,  reminiscent  of  Ra- 
phael, No  less  than  thirty-eight  bust  portraits  on 
four  panels,  by  van  Scorel,  are  here  of  citizens  and 
ecclesiastics,  who  went  on  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy 
Land.     These  portraits  are  of  remarkable  individ- 


XepOen,  Tntrecbt  an&  1Rottert)am      359 

uality  and  vivid  likeness,  while  the  great  variety 
of  the  movements  of  the  heads  bears  the  cachet 
of  a  master  hand.  A  "  Christ  crowned  with 
Thorns  "  is  of  the  brush  of  Hendrik  Goltzius.  Two 
portraits,  of  the  artist  and  his  wife,  are  examples 
of  the  rare  Joachim  Wttewael. 

The  Utrecht  family  of  painters,  the  Bloemaerts, 
are  naturally  to  be  found  here.  Abraham,  the 
father,  displays  an  "  Adoration  of  the  Magi." 
Hendrik  has  a  fine  group  piece,  "  Maria  van  Pallas 
dispensing  Charity,"  which  is  unusually  interesting 
for  its  grouping.  The  lady  is  seated,  surrounded 
by  her  standing  waiting-women  and  a  man  wearing 
the  ministerial  garment  of  a  Protestant  clergyman. 
Before  her  is  a  group  of  beneficiaries,  to  whom  sup- 
plies are  handed  from  bags  and  boxes  by  two  men- 
servants.  The  scene  takes  place  before  the  man- 
sion, with  other  mediaeval  houses  in  the  background. 
It  is  unconstrained,  full  of  outdoor  feeling,  and  re- 
markably attractive.  Adriaen  Bloemaert's  "  Land- 
scape "  is  of  little  interest.  A  canvas  with  "  St. 
Peter  at  Prayer  "  is  by  Gerard  van  Honthorst,  and 
a  "  Tobit  with  the  Angel "  by  the  rare  David 
Vinckbooms.  Moreelse,  Janssen  van  Ceulen,  and 
Thomas  de  Keyzer  have  excellent  portraits.  A 
"  Portrait  of  a  Lady  as  Diana  "  is  by  Ferdinand 
Bol,  while  van  der  Heist  shows  a  "  Holy  Family," 
which  is  one  of  the  few  pictures  of  this  artJSt  other 
than  portraits. 


36o  Ube  Hrt  of  tbe  iaetbcrlan&  Galleries 

An  "  Annunciation  to  the  Shepherds,"  by  Poe- 
lenburgh,  displays  the  artist's  figure  painting  and 
landscape  lighting  in  his  true  Italian  style.  The 
canvas  is  unusually  large,  and  was  found  over  the 
chimney  in  an  old  house  in  Utrecht,  in  which  the 
painter  at  one  time  resided.  Jan  van  Bylert  has 
two  genres,  "  The  Return  from  the  Chase "  and 
"  The  Concert,"  which  place  him  in  the  second  or 
third  rank  of  Dutch  artists  —  and  nevertheless  are 
more  interesting  than  the  work  of  many  Italian 
painters  of  greater  fame. 

The  Boymans  Museum  of  Rotterdam 

Although  the  general  average  of  the  four  hun- 
dred paintings  in  this  Gallery  falls  below  that  of 
Amsterdam  and  The  Hague,  there  are  still  a  few 
examples  of  extraordinary  merit,  while  the  collec- 
tion as  a  whole  is  fairly  representative  of  the  art- 
ists shown.  Four  of  the  six  rooms  on  the  upper 
floor  are  devoted  to  the  17th  century  school,  and 
two  to  modern  pictures. 

After  ascending  the  stairs  we  find  in  the  vesti- 
bule an  uninteresting  van  der  Heist,  "  Portrait  of 
a  Man,"  with  rather  flat  and  insipid  painting.  Nor 
is  another  man's  portrait,  by  Netscher,  of  superior 
force.  A  large  mythological  subject  by  Goltzius 
depicts  "  Mercury  offering  to  Juno  the  Eyes  of 


Xe^ben,  "Cltrecbt  an^  1Rotter&am        361 

THE  BOYMANS  MUSEUM 

ROTTERDAM 


C  E 

D 

B  r 

A 


362  trbe  art  of  tbe  IRetberlant)  (Balleries 

Argus."  A  little  masterpiece  by  Jacob  van  Ruis- 
dael  shows  a  "  Wheatfield/'  and  was  painted  during 
the  years  that  Van  Ruisdael  was  involuntarily,  but 
irresistibly  attracted  to  Rembrandt's  manner,  of 
which  this  beautiful  landscape  with  its  capricious 
lighting  bears  unmistakable  evidence.  Two  Italian 
landscapes  by  Adam  Pynacker,  and  a  Flower  piece 
by  Rachel  Ruysch  follow,  and  then  we  enter 
Room  A. 

This  room  does  not  contain  any  work  of  striking 
excellence.  A  small  panel  by  Pieter  de  Bloot, 
"  The  Poor  at  the  Gate  of  the  Hospital,"  is  char- 
acteristic, A  self-portrait  of  Pieter  Codde,  in  his 
studio,  was  picked  up  as  an  "  unknown  "  in  1893 
for  twelve  dollars.  Egbert  van  der  Poel's  "  A 
Fire  at  Midnight  "  is  his  favourite  subject,  of  which 
he  has  painted  a  large  number.  The  fact  that  he 
always  places  his  burning  houses  alongside  of  a 
canal  lends  colour  to  the  suspicion  that  his  aim  was 
the  picturing  of  the  reflection  of  the  lurid  flames 
in  the  water  —  in  which  he  succeeds  very  well. 
There  are  genre  paintings  by  Sybrant  van  Beest, 
G.  Coques,  Molenaer,  Saftleven,  and  J.  B.  Weenix. 
Jan  Weenix  has  one  of  his  famous  dead  Swans, 
and  Roeland  Savery  a  "  Hen."  Pieter  Lastman's 
**  Flight  in  Egypt "  indicates  his  Italian  style,  as 
does  the  landscape  by  Adriaen  Bloemaert.  The 
portraits  by  Delff,  and  by  van  der  Venne  are  of 
little  interest. 


Xe^ben,  Xatrecbt  ant)  IRotterbam      363 

In  Room  B  we  find  several  subjects  of  greater 
interest.  A  "  St.  John  writing  the  Apocalypse," 
unfortunately,  cannot  be  ascribed  to  the  early  name 
of  Dirk  Bouts  of  Haarlem,  to  whom  it  is  attributed. 
Although  this  painting  is  apparently  of  the  school 
of  Lukas  van  Leiden,  it  does  not  possess  the  qual- 
ities to  merit  any  great  name.  Nor  is  the  portrait 
of  Erasmus  an  undoubted  work  by  Holbein,  his 
friend.  With  greater  assurance  we  approach  the 
"  Portrait  of  a  young  Man,"  indubitably  a  Jan  van 
Scorel. 

Some  Flemish  pictures  in  this  room  are  inter- 
esting —  a  woman's  portrait  by  the  elder  Pourbus ; 
a  sketchy  replica  of  van  Dyck's  Windsor  portrait 
group  of  Charles  I,  his  wife  and  two  children;  a 
symbolic  composition  of  "  Agriculture  crowned  by 
Riches,"  by  Cornelis  de  Vos;  one  of  Sebastian 
Vrancx's  Pillaging  scenes;  creditable  portraits  by 
Philippe  de  Champaigne ;  an  animated  conversation 
piece  by  Gillis  van  Tilborch ;  and  a  "  Temptation 
of  St.  Jerome,"  by  the  early  Paulus  Bril. 

Frans  de  Hulst  is  represented  only  in  this  mu- 
seum. He  has  two  city  views,  of  the  Eastern  Gate 
of  the  city  of  Hoorn,  and  of  the  city  of  Nymwegen, 
They  are  both  well  composed,  and  painted  in  a  re- 
fined style  with  transparent  colour,  beautifully  con- 
trasting with  the  pale  sky.  So  is  the  work  of  Ger- 
rit  van  Battem  only  in  the  Boymans.     His  little 


364  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  BetberlanO  Oallertes 

panel  here  represents  a  kitchen,  although  the  artist 
is  better  known  as  a  landscape  painter.  And  also 
Jan  Daemen  Cool  is  an  artist  not  yet  met  with. 
He  painted  the  four  Regents  of  the  hospital  of 
which  he  became  an  inmate.  And  another  new 
man  is  Johan  Sonje,  who  gives  us  a  view  of  old 
Rotterdam ;  and  still  another  is  Hendrik  Verschur- 
ingh  with  a  genre,  "  The  Horse-shoer." 

Although  the  museum  catalogue  describes  a  little 
panel,  entitled  "  The  Cavalier,"  as  by  an  unknown 
master,  it  should  be  accepted  as  by  Esaias  van  de 
Velde,  Burger  and  Michel  concurring  in  this  at- 
tribution. It  is  a  curious  painting,  somewhat  re- 
minding of  a  reverse  of  the  equestrian  painting  of 
young  Don  Balthasar,  by  Velasquez.  The  dark 
corner  in  the  sky  is  apparently  due  to  incompetent 
restoration.  Near  by  hangs  one  of  his  "  Night  Con- 
flicts," which  inspired  van  der  Poel  to  his  hobby.  A 
small  "  Bacchus  "  is  by  Cornells  van  Haarlem.  A 
genre  of  an  old  man,  in  laughing  conversation  with 
a  young  girl  and  her  lover,  somewhat  coarse,  is  by 
H.  G.  Pot.  Simon  de  Vlieger  has  two  excellent 
canvases,  "  The  Borders  of  the  Maas,"  and  a 
"  Landscape  with  Cattle."  Rustic  interiors  are 
painted  by  Kalff,  and  by  Wyck;  Nature  Morte  is 
by  Heda,  P.  Claesz.,  and  by  van  Beyeren;  genre 
by  Eglon  van  der  Neer,  and  Dirk  van  Delen ;  three 
notable  landscapes  by  Johan  van  Kessel;   and  por- 


Xc^ben,  xatrecbt  ant)  IRotterDam      365 

traits  by  Bol,  and  by  van  den  Tempel.  The  latter 
has  a  group  of  a  Vice-Admiral  and  his  wife,  at- 
tended by  a  negro-boy  servant,  which  is  magnifi- 
cently and  broadly  painted.  Gerbrand  van  den 
Eeckhout  has  a  scene  of  the  meeting  between  Ruth 
and  Boaz,  which  is  naively  grouped  and  full  of 
animation.  The  "  Halt  of  Peasants  before  an 
Inn,"  by  Govaert  Camphuyzen,  is  analogous  with 
Paul  Potter's  style  in  the  drawing  of  the  horses, 
and  in  certain  features  of  the  landscape.  It  is,  how- 
ever, too  solidly  painted  and  sooty  to  be  quite  agree- 
able. A  characteristic  canvas  by  Gerard  van  Hon- 
thorst  is  his  "  Soldier  lighting  his  Pipe." 

On  entering  Room  C  we  behold  five  examples  by 
Aelbert  Cuyp  of  no  mean  importance.  These  range 
from  his  first  period,  with  a  "  Stable  with  two 
Horses,"  to  a  later  masterpiece,  "  The  Mussel 
Eater."  The  master's  savoury  colour  and  palpita- 
ting light  effects  are  distinguished  and  puissant. 
Jacob  Gerritsz.  Cuyp  has  a  portrait  group  of  three 
children.  Of  Jan  van  Goyen  we  find  here  a  large 
landscape  with  a  farmhouse,  in  his  usual  yellowish 
tints;  and  a  view  of  a  river  is  painted  with  vig- 
orous simplicity.  Saenredam  is  represented  by  a 
painting  of  the  Church  St.  Mary  of  Utrecht,  now 
demolished.  One  of  the  two  examples  by  Pala- 
medes,  showing  a  gathering  of  seventeen  persons, 
is  of  the  last  years  of  this  artist's  life,  in  which  a 


366  Ube  Hrt  ot  tbe  "fletberlant)  (Balleries 

soft  and  tender  handling  is  combined  with  clear 
and  rich  colouring,  approaching  the  style  of  Ter- 
borch.  A  **  Landscape  with  Cattle "  is  by  Dirk 
van  Bergen;  and  a  landscape  with  a  hunter,  by 
Verboom.  Pieter  van  Slingelandt,  who  painted 
portraits,  has  here  one  of  Johannes  van  Crom- 
brugge;  Jurriaan  Pool  one  of  his  wife,  Rachel 
Ruysch ;  and  Govert  Flinck  one  of  a  contemporary 
lawyer  with  his  wife  —  one  of  the  finest  works 
of  this  master.  The  portrait  groups  by  Nicolaas 
Maes  are  exceptionally  good.  They  have  each  a 
charming  little  child,  which  Maes  was  so  success- 
ful in  painting.  "  The  Gold-Weigher,"  by  Salomo 
Koninck,  is  full  of  Rembrandt  feeling.  The  two 
paintings  by  Hondius,  "  A  wild  Boar  defending 
itself  against  Dogs,"  and  a  "  Bear  attacked  by 
Dogs,"  indicate  the  distinction  between  this  master 
and  Snyders,  who  painted  like  subjects.  Hondius 
shows  greater  savageness  in  the  motions,  he  has  the 
same  facility  of  design,  but  is  less  fine  in  colour, 
nor  as  luminous  in  his  lighting  as  Snyders.  "  Flow- 
ers and  Fruit,"  by  C.  de  Heem,  and  a  landscape, 
by  Hackaert,  bring  us  to  the  next  room. 

Room  D  contains  several  important  canvases. 
Prominent  among  these  is  Rembrandt's  allegory 
of  "  The  Union  "  —  a  work  that  plainly  shows  that 
the  master  lacked  the  decorative  instinct,  as  well 
as  the  invention  gnd  subtle  suggestiveness  required 


Xe^&en,  xatrecbt  ant)  IRottetbam      367 

for  this  class  of  subjects.  The  composition  is  too 
encumbered  and  confusing,  and  the  meaning  of 
various  suggestive  details  too  obscure.  Of  course 
there  are  fine  parts.  The  cavaliers  on  horseback  are 
superb;  the  manner  of  painting  is  large,  magiste- 
rial; and  the  colour,  almost  a  monochrome  brown, 
is  still  of  fiery  glow.  Nevertheless,  we  find  here 
the  only  instance  in  the  Netherland  Galleries  of 
Rembrandt's  limitations. 

Two  landscapes,  by  Hobbema,  have  a  strong  ap- 
peal. One  is  beautiful  in  tone,  although  the  colour 
by  too  much  rubbing  has  been  dulled.  The  other 
one  is  one  of  those  savage  forest  comers  which  he 
loved  to  paint.  Hobbema  is  not  always  successful, 
however,  with  his  figures,  as  those  introduced  here 
are  distinctly  awkward.  The  examples  of  Jan 
Steen  are  entirely  in  his  best  manner.  One  is  a 
version  of  the  festivities  of  St.  Nicolas  Eve,  the 
other  shows  a  charlatan,  exhibiting  a  stone  which 
he  claims  to  have  extracted  out  of  a  dullard's  head, 
much  to  the  amusement  of  the  bystanders.  The 
droll  buffoonry  of  the  merry  artist,  and  the  ex- 
pressions he  lets  play  over  the  different  features, 
are  duly  exhilarating.  We  saw  in  the  Ryksmuseum 
the  same  subject  treated  by  Jeroen  Bosch.  A  por- 
trait of  a  man.  by  Frans  Hals,  is  naturally  of  in- 
terest, but  before  one  of  a  young  man,  by  Karel 
Fabricius,   it  is  easy  to  grow  enthusiastic.     For 


368    TTbe  Hrt  of  tbe  •fletberlan&  Galleries 

many  years  this  panel  was  regarded  as  an  exquisite 
Rembrandt,  and  Viardot,  Gautier,  Decamp,  all 
eminent  writers,  raved  over  "  this  incomparable 
Rembrandt."  The  authorship  of  Fabricius  is,  how- 
ever, incontestable,  and  since  this  bust  reminds  of 
a  Rembrandt  in  his  ripest  years,  of  a  Ribera  in  his 
savage  strength,  of  a  Murillo  when  he  painted 
forcibly  —  we  may  easily  conclude  that  we  stand 
before  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  this  youthful  painter. 

Portraits  of  average  strength  are  found  from 
Janssen  van  Ceulen,  van  der  Heist,  de  Keyzer, 
Hanneman,  Moreelse,  and  Netscher.  Vermeer  van 
Haarlem  has  a  landscape;  Aert  van  der  Neer  a 
beautiful  moonlight;  Filips  Koninck  a  landscape 
in  Rembrandt's  panoramic  style;  Both,  Murant, 
Frederik  de  Moucheron,  and  Lingelbach  in  the 
Italian  manner.  Salomo  van  Ruysdael  gives  a 
"  View  of  the  Maas  before  Dordrecht;  "  G.  Berck- 
heyden,  a  city  view;  Job  Berckheyden  depicts  the 
interior  of  the  old  exchange  in  Amsterdam,  now 
demolished ;  and  Sorgh  the  marketplace  in  Rotter- 
dam. We  find  here  marines  by  Willem  van  de 
Velde,  Verschuer,  Zeeman,  and  Ludolf  Backhuy- 
zen.  Dirk  Santvoort  has  here  genre,  also  Izaak 
van  Ostade,  Metsu,  and  Brakenburgh;  and  a  still 
life  bears  the  name  of  J.  D.  de  Heem. 

Rooms  E  and  F  are  filled  with  modem  pictures. 
Langendyk  painted  warlike  scenes   from  the   i8th 


^1 


o    E  S 


N 


Xest)en,  xatrecbt  an&  1Rotter&am      369 

century.  Ary  Scheffer  has  two  large  historical  can- 
vases, which  require  appropriate  legends  to  arouse 
interest.  L.  Apol,  Bosboom,  and  Hubert  van  Hove 
are  also  represented.  Room  F  contains  characteris- 
tic works  by  Mesdag,  Blommers,  Mauve,  Israels, 
Neuhuys,  J.  Maris,  and  others. 

The  work  of  a  few  artists  or  rank,  who  are  not 
represented  in  the  principal  galleries  which  we  have 
visited,  as  well  as  the  work  of  painters  seen  else- 
where may  still  be  found  in  the  municipal  build- 
ings of  smaller  cities. 

In  Gouda,  for  instance,  we  find  a  triptych  by 
Dirk  Barents,  his  only  sacred  work  extant,  and  a 
militia  group  by  Cornelis  Ketel,  the  early  group 
painter.  We  find  there  also  a  rare  example  by 
Anthonie  Blockland,  "  The  Beheading  of  St. 
James,"  a  work  of  art  of  great  interest.  This 
artist  depicted  also  a  "  Lord's  Supper,"  now  in 
the  Dordrecht  Museum. 

This  last-named  museum  possesses  two  portraits, 
by  Aert  van  Gelder;  a  fine  portrait,  by  Nicolaas 
Maes;  and  an  excellent  half-length  of  a  woman, 
by  God  fried  Schalcken.  Aelbert  Cuyp,  the  Dord- 
recht-bom, has  some  of  his  finest  works  here.  The 
later  Aert  Schouman  is  also  represented. 

In  Delft  we  find  the  famous  "  Anatomy  Lesson," 
by  the  younger  Mierevelt,  and  a  like  subject,  by 
Cornelis  de  Man. 


370  Ube  art  of  tbe  l^etberlant)  (Balleries 

Alkmaar  has  a  fine  corps-de-gardes,  by  Caesar 
van  Everdingen,  and  paintings  by  Ravesteyn  and 
P.  de  Grebber.  Middelburg  boasts  of  an  excellent 
militia  group  by  Hendrik  Berkmans,  The  master- 
piece of  Abraham  Bloemaert  is  in  the  townhall  of 
Gorcum;  the  noblest  work  of  van  Averkamp  is  in 
Kampen ;  and  a  group  painting  of  the  Magistrates 
of  Deventer,  by  Terborch,  is  still  preserved  in  the 
local  city  hall. 

Numberless  paintings  of  high  order  in  private 
collections  must  still  be  added  to  the  artistic  wealth 
of  Holland,  so  that  it  may  be  justly  claimed  that 
Holland  is  as  rich  in  pictorial  art  as  Italy  —  if  it 
were  only  known. 

Having  now  reviewed  the  paintings  as  they  are 
displayed  in  the  Netherland  Galleries,  and  having 
observed  their  serious  beauty,  their  human  appeal, 
their  compelling  portrayal  of  life  as  the  painter 
himself  saw  it  —  let  us  then  contrast  all  this  with 
Italian  Art,  which  is  principally  devoted  to  mytho- 
logical fable  or  Churchly  creed,  or  with  modern 
French  Art,  truly  of  decorative  value,  but  full  of 
affectation  in  its  figure  work,  which  is  its  only  claim 
for  vulgar  popularity.  The  final  judgment  will 
fairly  exalt  the  humanity  of  the  Dutch  above  the 
ideality  of  the  Italians  and  French. 

THE  END. 


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Kramm,  C.  —  De  Leven  en  Werken  der  Hollandsche  en  Vlaam- 
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Lafenestre,    G.,    and   Richtenberger,    E.  —  La    Hollande. 

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Philippi,  a. —  Die  Bliite  der  Malerei  in  Holland.  (Leipsic,  1901.) 
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Unbei 


Paget  containing  biogra/>hical  references  are  in  italics 


Abels,  J.  T.,  164. 

Aelst,  Willem  van,  151,  247, 

313,  318. 
Aertsen,  Pieter,  31,  241,  350. 
Allebe,  A.,  185,  285,  286,  353. 
Anraadt,  Pieter  van,  77,  252, 

280,  349. 
Antum,  Aert  van,  /5^,  246. 
Apol,   Louis,    193,   286,   293, 

353,  369. 
Arntzenius,  F.,  205. 
Artz,  D.  A.  C,  185,  286,  292, 

339- 
Asselyn,  Jan,  150,  221. 
Aver  camp,      Hendrik,      124, 

245,  370. 

Backer,  Jakob,  80,  223,  302, 

303. 
Backhuyzen,  A.,  Jr.,  167. 
Backhuyzen,  H.,   167. 
Backhuyzen,    Ger.    van    de 

Sande,  168,  339,  352. 
Backhuyzen,    J.    J    van    de 

Sande,  168,  286,  293,  352. 
Backhuyzen,     Ludolf,     156, 

274,  368. 
Baen,  Jacobus  de,  86. 
Baen,  Jan  de,  86,  227,  280, 

328,  356. 
Bakker-KorflF,  A.,  164,  285, 

292,  353- 
Balen,    Hendrik    van,    307, 

309. 


Barendsz.,  Dirk,  31,  240,  369. 
Bartolomnieo,  Fra,  342. 
Bassen,  Barthold  van,  g2. 
Bastert,  Nic,  195,  293,  353. 
Batten,  Gerrit  van,  140,  363. 
Bauer,    Mari    A.,    204,    294, 

339- 
Beeldemaker,   Adriaen,    137, 

219,  356. 
Beers,  Jan  van,  294. 
Beerstaten,    Jan    van,     136, 

257,  280. 
Bega,  Cornelis,  93,  273. 
Behr,  C.  J.,  163,  329. 
Beest,     Syljrand    van,    123, 

362. 
Berchen,    Nicolas,   139,  223, 

25s,  261,  300. 
Berckheyden,     Gerrit,     137, 

267,  271,  350,  368. 
Berckheyden,  Job,  137,  368. 
Bergen,  Dirk  van,  137,  366. 
Berkmans,  Hendrik,  86,  370. 
Beyeren,  Abraham  van,  151, 

247,  319,  320,  327,  364. 
Bilders,  J.  W.,  164,  285,  293. 
Bilders-van      Bosse,      Mrs., 

165,  285. 
Bisschop,   C.,  181,  284,  292, 

331,  353- 
Bles,    D.    J.,    163,   28s,    292, 

344.  353- 
Bloemaert,     Abraham,     37, 
312,  359,  370. 


373 


374 


fnC)ei 


Bloemaert,      Adriaen,     ijp, 

359,  362. 
Bloemaert,  Hendrik,  37,  225, 

271,  359. 
Bloeme,    H.    A.,    162,    2&7, 

Z29- 
Blokland,  Anthony  van,  33, 

369. 
Blommers,    B.    J.,    jqi,   286, 

291.  339,  369. 
Bloot,  Pieter  de,  94,  253,  362. 
Bock,  Theoph.  de,  192,  293. 
Bol,  Ferdinand,  80,  226,  229, 

251,  265,  278,  279,  280,  303, 

311,    313,    342,    356,    359, 

365. 
Boonen,  Arnold,  303. 
Bordone,  326. 
Borselen,   J.    W.    van,    164, 

330. 
Bosboom,     Johannes,      171, 

285,  288,  291,  302,  331,  339, 

353,  369- 
Bosch,  Jeroen,  26,  238,  242, 

358. 
Both,  Jan  and  Andries,  138, 

259,  263,  273,  300,  319,  368. 
Bouguereau,  344. 
Boulanger,  337. 
Bouts,  Dirk,  24,  363. 
Brakenburgh,   Richard,   117, 

276,  368. 
Bramer,  Leonard,  41,  224. 
Brascassat,  286. 
Bray,  Dirk  de,  77,  265. 
Bray,  Jakob  de,  77,  297. 
Bray,  Jan  de,  76,  349. 
Breitner,    G.    H.,    200,   286, 

293- 
Brekelenkam,    Quiryn,    117, 

259,  261,  269,  299. 
Breton,  Jules,  336. 
Breughel,  Velvet,  246,  307. 
Breughel,   Pieter    (HelHsh), 

238,  341,   350. 
Bril,  Paulus,  237,  363. 
Broedelet,  A.,  206. 
Brouwer,  Adriaan,  253,  342, 

350. 


Bueckelaer,  Joachim,  239. 
Bylert,  Jan  van,  g2,  360. 

Camphuyzen,  Govaert,  149, 
365. 

Cappelle,  Jan  van  de,  155, 
265,  320. 

Cereso,  327. 

Champaigne,  Philip  de,  342, 
363- 

Chattel,  F.  J.  du,  198,  293. 

Claesz.  van  Haarlem,  Pie- 
ter, 150,  313,  341,  364. 

Codde,  Pieter,  91,  228,  253, 
324,  325,  362. 

Cool,  Jan  Daemen,  75,  364. 

Coques,  Gonzales,  309,  362. 

Cornelissen  van  Haarlem, 
35,  243.  310,  348,  364. 

Comet,  J.  L.,  163,  352. 

Corot,  283,  2>2>2>- 

Cosimo,  Piero  di,  326. 

Courbet.  283,  335. 

Couture,  284,  23'^- 

Crabeth,  Wouter  and  Dirk, 

75- 
Crayer,  Caspar  de,  237. 
Cuylenburgh,    C.    van,    i^, 

329. 
Cuyp,  Aelbert,  127,  248,  272, 

273,    275,    280,    300,    313, 

320,  365,  369- 
Cuyp,  Benjamin,  254. 
Cuyp,  J.  Gerritsz.,  121,  297, 

365. 

Daubigny,  283,  286,  334. 
Daumier,  284,  337. 
Davidsz.,  Gerard  Jan,  24. 
Decamps,  284,  302,  336. 
Delacroix,  284,  302,  336. 
Delen,    Dirk    van,    92,    324, 

343,  364. 
Delff,  Jakob    Willemsz.,  85, 

24s,  328.  362. 
Deventer,  J.  F.  van,  166.  330, 
Deventer,   W.   A.,   166,  330. 

352. 
Diaz,  283,  335. 


■ffnOei 


375 


Does,  Simon  van  der,  142. 
Dou,  Gerard,  100,  248,  258, 
264,    269,    272,    276,    278, 

292,  302,  319,  325. 
Dubbels,  Hendrik,  155,  254. 
Dubourcq,  P.  L.,  163,  ■2^2. 
Duck,  Jakob  A.,  go,  257. 
Ducq,  Jan  le,  90,  327. 
Dupre,  Jules,  284,  335. 
Dusart,    Cornelis,    ///,    219, 

262,  265,  278,  299,  318,  349. 
Duyster,  Willem  C.,  91,  252, 

320. 
Dyck,  Anton  van,  235,  266, 

278,  297,  302,  306,  309,  363. 

Eeckhout,  Gerbrandt  van 
den,  81,  254,  301,  365. 

Eerelman,  Ottd,  186,  287. 

Elias,  Nicolas,  74,  225,  249, 
250,    251,    278,    280,    282, 

297.  303. 
Engelbrechtsz.    van    Leiden, 

Cornelis,  24,  239,  354. 
Essen,  Jan  van,  196,  294. 
Everdingen,  Allert  van,  129, 

272,  300,  350. 
Everdingen,  Caesar  van,  77, 

341.  356,  370. 

Fabricius,  Barent,  82,  226. 
Fabricius,    Karel,    82,    255, 

319,  367. 
Fargue,    Brothers    la,    158, 

328. 
Flinck,  Govert,  81,  248,  251, 

254,  258,  278,  301,  303,  342, 

366. 
Franken,  Frans,  237,  306. 
Frese,  Albertus,   158,  328. 
Fyt,  Jan,  306. 

Gabriel,   P.  J.    G.,  181,  286, 

293,  339,  353- 
Gallait,  L.,  294,  302. 
Geertgen   van   St.  Jans,  23, 

240,  357- 
Geest,  Wybrand  de,  75,  223. 


Gelder,    Aert   van,   83,  318, 

369. 
Gericault,  302,  336. 
Gerome,  344. 
Goltzius,    Hendrik,  36,   310, 

359,  360. 
Gorkom,  Jacobus  van,  168. 
Gorter,  A.  M.,  204,  294,  353. 
Gossaert,  Jan  (Mabuse),  27, 

239- 
Goyen,    Jan    van,    122,   221, 

248,  275,  280,  312,  327,  365. 
Graat,  Barent,  86. 
Gracht,  Jakob  van  der,  75, 

328. 
Grebber,  Frans,  39,  341. 
Grebber,  Pieter  de,  39,  348, 

370. 
Greive,  P.  F.,  163,  288,  292, 

353- 
Groot,  F.  B.  de,  160,  329. 
Gruyter,  Wm.,  Jr.,  166,  330. 

Haag,  T.  P.  C,  158,  328. 
Haanen,  A.  J.,  163,  285,  292. 
Haas,  J.  H.  L.  de,  182,  2S6, 

331,  352. 
Haas,  M.  F.  H.  de,  182,  331. 
Hackaert,  Jan,  136,  259,  265, 

275,  300,  366. 
Hals,  Dirk,  90,  256,  341. 
Hals,  Frans,  43-49,  228,  255, 

257,    274,    281,    297,    314, 

345-348,  367- 
Hals,    Frans,   the   Younger, 

93,  349- 
Hanneman,  Adriaen,  76,  308, 

368. 
Hardenberg.  L.,  7(5(5,  330. 
Haverman,  H.  J.,  199,  293. 
Heda,   Willem   Claesz.,   151, 

313,  364- 
Heem,  Cornelis  de,  151,  366. 
Heem,  Jan  Davidsz.  de,  151, 

264,  298,  368. 
Heemskerck,    Maerten   van, 

28,  241,  310,  351. 
Heemskerck  van  Beest,  J.  E. 

van,  j68,  292,  352. 


376 


fnt)ex 


Heerschop,  Hendrik,  83, 
220. 

Heist,  Bartholomeus  van 
der,  77,  227,  228,  247,  280, 
303,  2,'i2>,  322,  359,  360,  368. 

Henkes,  Gerke,  191,  331,  339, 

353- 
Heppener,  I.  J.,  167,  330. 
Hervier,  337. 

Heusch,  Willem  de,  139, 275. 
Heyden,   Jan   van   der,    137, 

255,  262,  264,  301. 
Hillegaert,    Paulus   van,   gi, 

2,11. 
Hobbema,      Meindert,     135, 

267,  275,  301,  367. 
Hodges,  C.  H.,  287. 
Holbein,     Hans,     238,     307, 

363. 
d'Hondecoeter,         Melchior, 
150,  222,  224,  226,  263,  282, 

315- 
Hondius,  Abraham,  149,  366. 
Honthorst,   Gerard  van,  41, 

281,  311.  328,  341,  359,  365. 
Hooch,   Pieter  de,  107,  263, 

268,  298,  343. 
Hoogstraten,     Samuel    van, 

83,  220,  271,  313. 
Houckgeest,  Gerard,  92,  262, 

301,  322. 
Hove,  B.  J.  van,  160,  329. 
Hove,  Hubert  van,  160,  329, 

369- 
Huchtenburgh,    Johan    van, 

118,  325. 
Hulst,  Frans  de,  125,  363. 
Huysum,  Jan  van,  153,  264, 

298. 

Israels,  Isaac,  203,  340. 
Israels,    Joseph,     172,    286, 
290,  339,  353,  369- 

Jacobsz.,  Dirk,  31,  239. 
Jacque,  336. 

Jansen,  H.  W.,  197,  293. 
Janssen    van    Ceulen,    Cor- 
nells, 74,  328,  359,  368. 


Jardin,   Karel   du,   140,  221, 

227,  248,  262,  311. 
Jongh,  Ludolph  de,  84,  349. 
Jongkind,    J.    B.,    179,    286, 

293- 
Jordaens,  Jacob,  303,  341. 
Josselin    de    Jong,    P.,    202, 

331. 
Jurres,  J.  H.,  207. 

Kalff,  Willem,  131,  319,  341, 

364. 
Kate,  H.  F.  C.  ten,  167,  288, 

292,  353- 
Kate,  J.  M.  ten,  167,  330. 
Kate,   Mari,  i<f7,  330. 
Kessel,    Jan    van,    136,   275, 

364- 
Ketel,  Cornelis,  35,  249,  252, 

369- 
Kever,  J.  S.  H.,  196,  294. 
Keyzer,  Thomas  de,  73,  223, 

247,  250.  254,  256,  277,  280, 

302,  315,  359,  368. 
Kinderen,    A.    J.    der,    200, 

293- 
Klinkenberg,    K.,    193,    285, 

292. 
Kluyver,  P.  L.  R,  163,  330. 
Koekkoek,   B.   C.,  159,  288, 

Koninck,    Filips,     129,    282, 

318.  368. 
Koninck,     Filips,    129,    282, 

366. 
Kool,    Willem    Gillis,    137, 

350. 
Kruseman,      Cornelis,      j6o, 

285,  329,  353- 
Kruseman,   J.    A.,   160,   287, 

329,  353- 

Lairesse,     Gerard    de,    237, 

327- 
Langendyk,  Dirk,  138,  368. 
Lastman,  Claes,  222. 
Lastman,     Pieter,     40,    244, 

318,  362. 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  278. 


Hn&er 


377 


Leys,  Baron,  294,  302. 
Leyster,  Judith,  93,  256,  300, 

.315- 
Lievens,    Jan,   79,   225,    229, 

356. 
Lingelbach,    Johannes,    141, 

259,  273,  275,  303,  313,  368. 
Loo,  Jakob  van,  86,  320,  349. 
Lukas  van   Leiden,  34,  243, 

355- 
Lyon,  Jakob,  43,  282. 

Maaten,  J.  J.  van  der,  166, 

330. 
Mabnse,  2/,  239. 
Madou,  J.  B.,  294,  302. 
Maes,    Nicolaas,     102,    223, 

247,  266,  276,  278,  300,  320, 

342,  349,  366,  369. 
Magnisco,  326. 
Man,  Comelis  de,  85,  369. 
Mancini,  284,  337. 
Marcke,  E.  van,  336. 
Maris,  Jacob,   173,  285,  286, 

288,  331.  338,  369. 
Maris,    Matthys,     186,    291, 

339- 
Maris,  Simon,  206. 
Maris,  Willem,  188,  285,  291, 

339- 
Martens,  Willy,  198,  288,  331. 
Massys,  238. 
Mastenbroeck,    J.    H.    van, 

207. 

Mauve,  Anton,  775,  285,  286, 

291,  3^1.  339.  353,  369- 
Mazzolino,  326. 
Meissonier,  344. 
Memlinc,  308,  309. 
Mesdag,    H.    W.,    183,   285, 

291,  331,  339,  353,  369- 
Mesdag-van    Houten,    Mrs., 

184,  338. 
Metsu,  Gabriel,  709,  258,  262, 

263,  267,  299,  313,  343,  368. 
Mettling,  Louis,  284,  337. 
Meulen,  P.  ter,  192,  286,  331. 
Meyer,  Louis,  166,  292,  351. 
Michel,  336. 


Mierevelt,    Michiel    Jansen, 

37,  246,  253,  268,  278,  297, 

311,  328,  342. 
Mierevelt,  Pieter,  38,  369. 
Mieris,  Frans  van,  iii,  275, 

299,  320. 
Mieris,     Willem    van,     I7^, 

265,  299. 
Mignon,  Abraham,  152,  264. 
Millet,  J.  F.,  332. 
Moeyaert,  Nicolaes,  78,  224, 

246,  250. 
Molenaer,    Jan    Miense,    95, 

267,  313,  349.  362. 
Molyn,  Pieter,  124,  349. 
Monet,  Claude,  284. 
Monticelli,  284. 
Moor,  Karel  de,  86,  328,  356. 
Mor,  Antonis,  32,  310. 
Moreelse,    Paulus,    38.    244, 

249,  253,  314,  359,  368. 
Moucheron,      Fredcrik     de, 

T4T,  3^8. 
Moucheron,    Izaak    de,    142, 

219. 
Munkacsy,  337. 
Murant,  Emanuel,  139,  368. 
Murillo,  238,  326. 
Muscher,    Michiel    van,    87, 

297. 
Mytens,  Daniel,  76. 
Mytens,  Jan,  76,  279. 

Nakken,  W.  C,  183,  293. 

Neefs,  Pieter,  236. 

Neer,    Aert    van    der,    128, 

253,  260,  267,  274,  300,  324, 

368. 
Neer,    Eglon    H.    van    der, 

118,  364. 
Netscher,    Caspar,    99,    259, 

264,  278,  318,  319,  360,  368. 
Neuhuys,  A.,  190,  286,  291, 

369- 
Neuhuys,  J.  H.,  79/,  291. 
Nieuwland,  Adriaen  van,  42, 

222. 
Nooms,  Reinier    (Zeeman), 

r54,  259,  368. 


378 


fn&cx 


Ochtervelt,  Jakob  van,  280. 
Olis,  Jan,  84. 

Oostsanen,  Jakob  Cornelisz. 
van,  26,  239,  242,  308,  342, 

357. 
Os,  Family  van,  139,  329. 
Ostade,  Adriaen  van,  pj,  259, 

262,  263,  271,  272,  27s,  276, 

299,  302,  315,  319,  324- 
Ostade,  Izaak  van,  126,  255, 

270,  300,  368. 
Ovens,  Jurriaen,  85,  237,  297, 

303. 

Palamedes,  Anthony,  90, 246, 

324,  365- 
Pieneman,  J.  W.,   139,  220, 

28s,  287,  302,  353. 
Pieneman,     Nic,     160,    285, 

287,  292,  353. 
Pieters,  Evert,  203. 
Pietersen,  Aert,  33,  243,  249. 
Pinas,  Jan,  42,  244. 
Poel,   Egbert   van   der,   127, 

255,  257,  362. 
Poelenburg.     Cornelis     van, 

40,  252,  360. 
Poggenbeek,  Geo.,  193,  286, 

293- 
Pool,  Jurriaen,  87,  342,  366. 
Pot,    Hendrik    G.,    79,   325, 

348,  364- 
Potter,  Paulus,  143,  220,  247, 

255,  259,  278,  297,  319,  331. 
Potter,  Pieter,  91,  253. 
Pourbus,  306,  363. 
Prud'hon,  294. 
Pynacker,    Adam,   141,   276, 

280,  300,  342,  362. 

Ravesteyn,  Jan  van,  38,  247, 

310,  311,  328,  342. 
Rembrandt,    30-37,    229-235, 

269,  277,  295,  302,  316-318, 

343,  366,  370. 
Ribot,  284. 
Ring,  Pieter  de,  248. 
Rink,  P.,  200,  340. 


Rochussen,  C,  163,  288,  294, 

302. 
Roelofs,  W.,   181,  286,  293, 

339,  353- 
Roghman,  Roeland,  123,  282. 
Rombouts,  Gillis,  126,  300. 
Ronner,  Henrietta,  183,  292, 

353- 
Roosenboom,     Marg.,     191, 

292. 
Rousseau,  284,  334. 
Rubens,   237,   238,   266,   301, 

302,  306,  307,  309. 
Ruisdael,    Jakob    van,    130- 

133,    221,    262,    263,    269, 

270,  273,  275,  276,  301,  313, 

314.  362. 
Ruysdael,  Salomo  van,  124, 

275,  315,  368. 
Ruysch,    Rachel,    133,    298, 

320,  362. 


Sadee,    P.   L.    F.,    183,   286, 

292,  353- 
Saenredam,     Pieter     Jansz., 

9J,  247,  253,  254,  273,  303, 

365. 
Saftleven,  Cornells,  128,  253, 

259,  278,  362. 
Sandrart,  Joachim  von,   52, 

251. 
Santvoort,  Dirk,  73,  224,  246, 

250,  297,  368. 
Sargent,  John,  2>y7- 
Savery,    Roeland,    41,    244, 

253.  362. 
Schalcken,     Godfried,     112, 

299,  311,  369- 
Scheffer.  Ary,  160,  302,  369. 
Schelfhout,     Andreas,     139, 

288,  302,  329,  344,  352. 
Schilt,  M.,  206. 
Scholten,  H.  J.,  167,  353- 
Schooten,  Joris  van,  42,  356. 
Schotel,  J.  C.,  159,  351- 
Schouman,    Aert,    138,    328, 

369- 
Schregel,  B.,  206. 


Ifn^ex 


379 


Schwartze,     Therese,     194, 

286,  287,  293. 
Scorel,  Jan  van,  27,  242,  351, 

357,  358,  363. 
Segantini,  337. 
Slingeland,  Pieter  van,  liz, 

264,  366. 
Sluiter,  Willy,  206. 
Snyders.  Frans,  236,  308. 
Sonje,  Jan,  142,  364. 
Soolmaker,  Jan,  140,  326. 
Sorgh,  Hendrik,  92,  2:71,  275, 

342,  368. 
Soutman,  Pieter,  39,  348. 
Springer,   C,   166,  288,   293, 

353- 
Steelink,  W.,  199,  340. 
Steen,  Jan,  113,  220,  248,  259, 

260,  261,  266,  269,  270,  274, 

276,  27y,  299,  312,  318,  322- 

324,  2,27,  356,  367. 
Stengelin,  337. 
Stoop,  Dirk,  92,  274. 
Storck,  Abraham,  142,  267. 
Storm  van  s'Gravesande,  C, 

186,  340. 
Stortenbeker,    P.,    169,    288, 

353. 
Stroebel,  J.  A.  B.,  163;  285, 

288,  329,  353. 
Swanevelt,  Herman,  141. 


Taanman,  Jac,  183,  331. 
Tadema,  Alma,  286,  293,  337. 
Tempel,  Abraham  van  den, 

85,  282,  311,  328,  365. 
Teniers,  David,  the 

Younger,    236,    266,    299, 

30s.  306. 
Terborch,    Gerard,    95,   253, 

258,  259,  275,  298,  311,  349, 

370. 
Teunissen,  Cornells,  31,  239. 
Tholen.  W.  B.,  201,  331. 
Tilborgh,    Gillis    van,    308, 

363. 
Tischbein,  311,  321. 
Titian,  326. 


Tol,    Dominicus    van,    113, 

299,  356. 
Tom,  J.  B.,  163,  288,  329. 
Toorop,  Jan,  201,  340. 
Troost,    Comelis,    119,   21^, 

321. 
Troyon,  284,  335. 
Tulden,  Theodoor  van,  341. 

Ugolino  da  Siena,  357. 
Ulft,  Jacob  van  der,  141,  342. 

Vaillant,  Wallerant,  8s,  303. 
Vilkenburg,  H.,  168. 
Valkert,    Werner    van    den, 

84,  246,  250. 
Velasquez,  326. 
Velde,  Adriaen  van  de,  136, 

247,  271,  301,  319,  350. 
Velde,   Esaias   van    de,   t2l, 

247,  325,  342,  364. 
"^  aide,  Willem  van  de   (the 

Elder),  154,  263,  265,  279, 

368. 
Velde,  Willem  van  de   (the 

Younger),    i^S,   226,    261, 

272,  273,  315,  319. 
Venne,  Adriaen  van  de,  9/, 

244,  245,  246,  253,  278,  362. 
Verboeckhoven,  285. 
Verboom,     Abraham,     126, 

276,  2>(^. 
Verheyen,  J.  H.,  159,  329- 
-Vermeer  van  Delft,  Jan,  103, 

257,    262,    268,    301,    320, 

342. 
Vermeer  van  Haarlem,  Jan, 

155,  368. 
Vermeer  van  Utrecht,  Jan, 

104,  325. 
Vernet,  Horace,  344. 
Verschuer,   Lieve,   155,  271, 

368. 
Verschuring,   Hendrik,    141, 

364- 
Verschuur,  W.,  165,  285,  288, 

353- 
Verspronck,    Johannes,    7(5, 
246,  349. 


38o 


fnDex 


Verveer,  Elchanon,  i6s,  330. 
Verveer,  S.  L.,  163,  285,  293, 

352. 
Verwee,  337. 
Veth,  Jan,  203,  294. 
Victors,    Jan,    81,   220,    273, 

349- 
Vinckboons,  David,  41,  244, 

359- 
Vlieger,  Simon  de,  154,  221, 

280,  315,  364- 
Vois,    Arie    de,    113,    259, 

343- 
Vollev^s,  Johannes,  87,  328. 
Vollon,  A.,  284,  286,  336. 
Voort,  Cornelis  van  der,  42, 

224,  249,  297. 
Vos,  Paul  de,  306. 
Vos,  Cornelis  de,  363. 
Vranx,  Sebastian,  309,  363. 
Vries,  Abraham  de,  86. 
Vrolyk,  Jan,  191,  331. 
Vroom,    Hendrik    Cornelis- 

sen,  36,  350. 

Waldorp,  A.,  164,  330,  352. 
Weele,   H.  J.  van  der,  194, 

340,  353- 
Weenix,  Jan,  132,  225,  226, 

320,  324,  362. 
Weenix,    Jan    Baptist,    132, 

282.  362. 


Weissenbruch,  Jan,  181,  284, 

293,  353- 
Weissenbruch,    J.    H.,    //p, 

286,  331,  339,  353. 
Werff,  Adriaen  van  der,  118, 

265. 
Werff,  Pieter,  118,  262. 
Weyden,    Rogier    van    der, 

308. 
Whistler,  284. 
Wildens,  Jan,  237. 
Willaerts,  Jan,  3/,  246. 
Wit,  Jacob  de,  119,  303. 
Witte,  Emanuel  de,  93,  272, 

279. 
Witsen,  W.,  201,  294. 
Wouwerman,      Philip,     148, 

248,  256,  259,  261,  262,  263, 

301,  313,  319,  322. 
Wttewael,  Joachim,  37,  325, 

359- 
Wyck,    Thomas,    141,    256, 

276,  326,  364. 
Wynants,  Jan,  125,  263,  270, 

273,   313- 
Wysmuller,  J.  H.,  jp7,  340. 

Zeeman    (Reinier    Nooms), 

154,  259,  368. 
Ziem,  284. 

Zilcken,  Phil.,  199,  340. 
Zwart,  W.  de,  202,  340. 


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